- Ballot Initiative Filed: California Charitable Assets Protection Act filed with AG to review and reverse nonprofit conversions in scientific/tech research since January 2024.
- Coalition Backing: Coalition for AI Nonprofit Integrity (CANI) supports measure after failing to block OpenAI conversion earlier.
- OpenAI Conversion: Completed conversion of for-profit subsidiary to public-benefit corporation in late October after AG negotiations.
- Strategic Importance: Conversion enables OpenAI fundraising amid growth and investments in AI, consumer devices, computing hardware.
- OpenAI Founding: Co-founded in 2015 as nonprofit by Sam Altman and Elon Musk to advance beneficial digital intelligence.
- Musk's Involvement: Musk left OpenAI in 2018; CANI appeals to him for funding ballot measure appearing in November 2026 if signatures gathered.
- OpenAI Statement: Spokeswoman describes effort as baseless attempt to relitigate approved decision.
- Filing Details: Paperwork submitted by Poornima Ramarao, mother of OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji who died by suicide.
By
Dec. 2, 2025 12:36 am ET
BPC > Only use to renew if text is incomplete or updated: | archive.vn
BPC > Full article text fetched from (no need to report issue for external site): | archive.today | archive.li

Sam Altman is chief executive of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Al Drago/Bloomberg News
A coalition is proposing a California ballot initiative aimed at limiting OpenAI’s power.
The initiative aims to review and potentially reverse conversions to nonprofit organizations engaged in scientific and technological research that occurred since January of 2024.
The Coalition for AI Nonprofit Integrity, which previously opposed OpenAI’s conversion, is backing the measure.
An artificial-intelligence tool created this summary, which was based on the text of the article and checked by an editor. Read more about how we use artificial intelligence in our journalism.
A coalition is proposing a California ballot initiative aimed at limiting OpenAI’s power.
View more
A coalition that tried and failed to block OpenAI’s conversion earlier this year is back with a new tactic: a California ballot initiative aimed at reining in the startup’s power.
The planned initiative, dubbed the California Charitable Assets Protection Act, was filed Monday with California’s attorney general. It doesn’t mention OpenAI by name, but calls for the creation of an oversight board empowered to review and potentially reverse conversions to nonprofit organizations engaged in scientific and technological research that have happened in the state since January of 2024.
In late October, after a year of negotiating with the attorneys general of California and Delaware, OpenAI announced that it was converting its for-profit subsidiary to a public-benefit corporation.
The conversion was key to OpenAI’s fundraising efforts. The startup has seen explosive growth in recent years and has placed a host of expensive and high-profile bets on the future of AI, consumer devices and computing hardware.
OpenAI’s ascendance has drawn scrutiny from some AI safety groups, critics of Silicon Valley’s quest for superhuman intelligence and the startup’s business foes. The ballot initiative is backed by the Coalition for AI Nonprofit Integrity, or CANI, which earlier this year tried to block OpenAI’s conversion, saying it was a betrayal of the startup’s mission and would “unduly concentrate power in the hands of a few.”
“This is a baseless attempt by CANI to relitigate a decision that has already been made,” said an OpenAI spokeswoman.
OpenAI was co-founded by Sam Altman and Elon Musk in 2015 as a nonprofit organization with the goal “to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.”

Elon Musk left OpenAI in 2018. Tom Brenner/Reuters
CANI is appealing directly to Musk for help funding the measure, which would appear on the ballot in November of next year if its proponents can gather the hundreds of thousands of signatures required. Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018, has tried to block OpenAI’s conversion in court.
The coalition said it has the initial funding to get the ballot measure in front of voters, “but to see it through to November 2026, we’re appealing to Elon Musk and others who understand what’s at stake.” Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
To gather support, the coalition is launching a website called <a href="http://OpenTheft.com" rel="nofollow">OpenTheft.com</a> to raise funds, organize and spread its message. “We can’t do this alone. This is going to take resources to fight one of the most well-funded companies in the world,” the coalition said.
The paperwork for the ballot initiative was filed by Poornima Ramarao, the mother of an OpenAI whistleblower who died shortly after publicly accusing his former employer of breaking copyright law to train its models. The San Francisco medical examiner determined he had died by suicide.
OpenAI has said the company was “devastated” by Suchir Balaji’s death and called him a “valued member of our team.”
CANI tried earlier this year to push forward a bill in the California legislature that would have blocked OpenAI’s conversion. It sought to “prevent any individual, business or group from creating a startup venture capital nonprofit to exploit the charitable contributions of contributors and stakeholders, including knowledge, resources, and donations.”
News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a content-licensing partnership with OpenAI.
Write to Keach Hagey at Keach.Hagey@wsj.com
The Global AI Race
Coverage of advancements in artificial intelligence, selected by the editors
‘Sovereign AI’ Takes Off as Countries Seek to Avoid Overreliance on Superpowers
Teens Are Saying Tearful Goodbyes to Their AI Companions
Wall Street Blows Past Bubble Worries to Supercharge AI Spending Frenzy
When AI Hype Meets AI Reality: A Reckoning in 6 Charts
Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Already a subscriber? Sign In
What to Read Next
[
OpenAI Declares ‘Code Red’ as Google Threatens AI Lead
December 2, 2025
[
Sam Altman told employees they must focus on the company’s chatbot experience, to the exclusion of other priorities including advertising.
[
Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk
](https://www.wsj.com/tech/tech-media-telecom-roundup-market-talk-af7237ed?mod=WTRN_pos2)
6 hours ago
[
Find insight on Okta, Marvell Technology and more in the latest Market Talks covering Technology, Media and Telecom.
](https://www.wsj.com/tech/tech-media-telecom-roundup-market-talk-af7237ed?mod=WTRN_pos2)
EXCLUSIVE
[
This AI Startup Wants to Remake the $800 Billion Chip Industry
December 2, 2025
[
Founded by ex-Google researchers, Ricursive raised $35 million with backing from Sequoia to automate chip design.
EXCLUSIVE
[
An AI Startup Looks Toward the Post-Transformer Era
[
The architecture underlying large language models revolutionized AI. Pathway’s Dragon Hatchling is designed to do more.
[
Prediction Market Kalshi Hits $11 Billion Valuation in New Funding Round
[
Kalshi, one of the biggest players in the prediction markets sector, said it is continuing to grow, with trading volumes now surpassing $1 billion every week.
[
Why Bonds Won’t Protect You From an AI Bubble
[
As more debt is issued to fund AI build-outs, investors need to consider whether they really are diversified.
[
‘I love my work’: I’m a 61-year-old Chicago public-school teacher with a $60K annual pension. Is it safe?
[
“I am aware that my pension as a Chicago public school teacher is dependent on factors that are very much in flux right now.”
[
Alice + Olivia Founder Stacey Bendet’s Colorful Apartment Even Has a Designated Bedazzling Station
[
The fashion designer merged two units at the Dakota on Manhattan’s Upper West Side into a home that reflects her family of five


