SI Lab · Frontier lab
OpenAI
On this page
- Founded
- 2015
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California
- Type
- Frontier lab
- Website
- openai.com
- SI Accord
- Signatory
- Models tracked
- 3
Leadership
- Sam Altman · CEO
- Greg Brockman · President
- Sarah Friar · CFO
- Bret Taylor · Chair
OpenAI is the company most associated with the SI era. Its ChatGPT, launched on November 30, 2022, became the fastest-growing consumer app in history at the time and set off the generative SI boom.
History
OpenAI was founded in December 2015 as a non-profit research lab by a group including Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever and Elon Musk, with the mission “to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.” Key moments:
- 2019: creates a “capped-profit” company to raise capital; Microsoft invests the first of many billions.
- 2020–2023: GPT-3, DALL·E, ChatGPT and GPT-4 define the field.
- November 2023: the board briefly fires and then reinstates CEO Sam Altman.
- 2024–2025: reasoning models (o1, o3), GPT-5 (August 2025) and the Stargate infrastructure venture.
- October 2025: restructures into OpenAI Group PBC, a public benefit corporation controlled by the non-profit OpenAI Foundation.
- 2026: raises a reported $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation (April), confidentially submits a draft IPO registration statement to the SEC (announced June 2026), and launches the GPT-6 family (September).
Models
| Model | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-6 Astra | September 3, 2026 | Flagship; about 1.05M-token context |
| GPT-6 Luna | September 22, 2026 | Fast, very low-cost tier |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | September 29, 2026 | Near-flagship at a fifth of Astra’s price |
OpenAI also builds image (GPT Image), video (Sora), voice and coding (Codex) products. It reportedly cancelled an October launch of GPT-6.1 Astra after safety testing.
Safety and policy
OpenAI’s Preparedness Framework sets risk thresholds for capabilities such as cybersecurity and biology. GPT-6 Astra was reported to be the first model to reach its “Critical” cybersecurity level, with access initially limited to vetted enterprises and cyber-defenders. President Greg Brockman signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence on OpenAI’s behalf on September 29, 2026.
Superintelligence goal
CEO Sam Altman has written that superintelligence may arrive “in a few thousand days”. See When will superintelligence arrive?
OpenAI models
| Model | Released | Status |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Sol | Sep 2026 | Current |
| GPT-6 Luna | Sep 2026 | Current |
| GPT-6 Astra | Sep 2026 | Current |
Frequently asked questions
Who owns OpenAI?
OpenAI's business has been OpenAI Group PBC, a public benefit corporation controlled by the non-profit OpenAI Foundation, since the October 2025 restructuring. At that point the Foundation held about 26%, Microsoft about 27% and employees and investors the rest; later funding rounds, including the 2026 raise, will have changed those shares.
What is OpenAI's latest model?
As of October 2026, OpenAI's flagship is GPT-6 Astra (September 3, 2026), with GPT-6.1 Sol (September 29, 2026) as a cheaper near-flagship and GPT-6 Luna as the low-cost tier.
Sources
- OpenAI — Wikipedia
- OpenAI API models — OpenAI
- OpenAI releases GPT-6.1 Sol at a fifth of GPT-6 Astra's token prices — The Next Web, September 29, 2026
Written by
Luka Kušec · Editor
Editor of SI.info. Writes about Super Intelligence, technology policy and the people building frontier models.