We got California to intervene about OpenAI’s corporate switch from nonprofit status. It’s time for the SEC to come to the table

Orson Aguilar is the founding president and CEO of LatinoProsperity. Catherine Bracy is the founder and CEO of TechEquity and author of “World Eaters.” Aguilar and Bracy are members of the EyesOnOpenAI coalition.

Ever since OpenAI filed its initial paperwork to become a publicly traded company, the headlines about the historic nature of this IPO, and the billions OpenAI could raise have continued pouring in. While there is no shortage of news coverage, it’s missing key details any savvy investor would want to know. 

In OpenAI, investors aren’t investing in a typical corporation—they’re putting money into a company that’s ultimately controlled by a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit. With this unconventional and unprecedented structure—OpenAI will be the first 501(c)(3) charity to take a controlled entity public—comes a growing mountain of unresolved legal questions, undisclosed conflicts, and governance risks that could backfire on shareholders at any moment.

That’s why EyesOnOpenAI–our coalition of over 50 nonprofit, labor and philanthropic organizations–submitted a letter to the SEC urging it to ensure OpenAI fully disclose each of its governance risks and their potential financial consequences for investors. Recently, the SEC has opted to embrace a “Make IPOs Great Again,” proposing rules that would require less........

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