ChatGPT is made and owned by OpenAI, the San Francisco AI company led by CEO Sam Altman. But “who owns OpenAI?” is a harder question, because the company has an unusual structure: a nonprofit foundation controls a for-profit company, and Microsoft, SoftBank, employees and dozens of investors each hold a slice.
This guide explains who owns ChatGPT in plain English, how the ownership is split after the October 2025 restructure and the 2026 funding rounds, what Microsoft’s role really is, who runs the company day to day, what “ChatGPT” stands for, and how ChatGPT differs from Microsoft Copilot.
Every figure is linked to its source, and we flag which numbers are reported rather than official.
- Owner of ChatGPT: OpenAI. The product is run by its for-profit arm, OpenAI Group PBC (a public benefit corporation).
- Who controls OpenAI: the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation, which held about 26% (around $130 billion) at the October 2025 restructure.
- Microsoft: about 27% at that restructure, worth roughly $135 billion then. A big shareholder and partner, but it does not own or run ChatGPT.
- SoftBank: about 13% per its own October 2026 disclosure, after investing $64.6 billion in total.
- The rest: employees and investors such as Amazon, Nvidia, Thrive and others. OpenAI does not publish a full cap table.
- CEO: Sam Altman. ChatGPT stands for “Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer”.
The Short Answer
ChatGPT belongs to OpenAI. OpenAI built the models behind it, runs the servers, sells the subscriptions and sets the rules. No other company owns ChatGPT itself.
OpenAI, in turn, is owned by a mix of shareholders and controlled by a nonprofit. Think of it in three layers:
- The OpenAI Foundation (nonprofit) sits at the top and controls the company.
- OpenAI Group PBC (for-profit public benefit corporation) runs ChatGPT, the API, Codex and the rest of the business.
- Shareholders in the PBC include the Foundation itself, Microsoft, SoftBank, employees and other investors.
So the honest one-line answer is: ChatGPT is owned by OpenAI, which is controlled by the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation and partly owned by Microsoft, SoftBank, employees and other investors.
How OpenAI Is Structured
OpenAI started in 2015 as a pure nonprofit research lab. In 2019 it added a “capped-profit” company so it could raise the huge sums needed for computing power. That hybrid lasted until October 28, 2025, when OpenAI completed a recapitalization.
| Entity | Type | Role |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Foundation | Nonprofit | Controls the for-profit company and holds a large equity stake. Bret Taylor chairs the board. |
| OpenAI Group PBC | Delaware public benefit corporation | Runs ChatGPT and all commercial products. Must weigh its mission alongside profit. |
A public benefit corporation is a normal for-profit company that is legally required to consider a stated public mission, not only shareholder returns. Reports at the time said the Foundation can gain more equity if the company hits a future valuation milestone, though the exact trigger was not published.
The key point for readers: the change removed the old cap on investor profits, but the nonprofit kept control. That is why you will see both “nonprofit-controlled” and “for-profit” used about OpenAI, and both are true.
Who Owns What: The Ownership Table
OpenAI is private and does not publish a full list of shareholders. The table below uses the official figures from the October 2025 restructure, plus SoftBank’s own stock-exchange disclosure. Later funding rounds have diluted every holder, so treat the percentages as the best public snapshot, not a live count.
| Shareholder | Approx. stake | What we know | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Foundation (nonprofit) | About 26% | About $130 billion of equity at the restructure, plus control rights | OpenAI announcement, Oct 2025 (reported widely) |
| Microsoft | About 27% | About $135 billion at the restructure, down from roughly 32.5% before | Oct 2025 reports |
| SoftBank Group | About 13% | $64.6 billion invested in total after its final $10 billion tranche in October 2026 | SoftBank disclosure to the Tokyo Stock Exchange |
| Employees and other investors | The rest | Includes staff, Thrive, Amazon, Nvidia, Andreessen Horowitz, MGX and others | Not disclosed |
Because these snapshots were taken at different times, they do not add up neatly to 100%. Anyone quoting a precise “current” split for every holder is guessing.
Does Microsoft Own ChatGPT?
No. Microsoft is one of OpenAI’s largest shareholders and its biggest cloud partner, but it does not own or operate ChatGPT. Here is what the relationship actually looks like after the 2025 agreement:
- Stake: about 27% of OpenAI Group PBC at the restructure.
- IP rights: Microsoft can use OpenAI’s models and products in its own services, with rights reported to run through 2032.
- Cloud: OpenAI committed to buy around $250 billion of Azure services, while Microsoft gave up its right of first refusal on OpenAI’s computing deals.
- Products: Microsoft builds its own Copilot on OpenAI models and, increasingly, its own models too. Copilot is a Microsoft product, ChatGPT is an OpenAI product.
So if you pay for ChatGPT Plus, your money goes to OpenAI, not Microsoft. Your account and data are governed by OpenAI’s terms and privacy policy.
Funding Rounds and Valuation Timeline
OpenAI has raised money at a pace no startup has matched. These are the main rounds since 2025.
| Date | Amount | Main investors | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2025 | $40 billion+ | Led by SoftBank, with Microsoft, Thrive, Coatue, Altimeter, Dragoneer | $300 billion |
| October 2025 | Employee share sale | Employees selling to investors | About $500 billion |
| March 2026 | $122 billion | Anchored by Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank; co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, D. E. Shaw, MGX, TPG and T. Rowe Price; Microsoft joined | $852 billion |
| November 2026 (reported) | About $15 billion | Not named in reports | About $1.25 trillion |
The November 2026 figures come from press reports, not an OpenAI announcement, so they may change. OpenAI has not set a date for an IPO. If it ever lists on a stock exchange, the full ownership picture will become public in its filings.
Note: OpenAI is not publicly traded, so you cannot buy OpenAI shares on a normal stock exchange. Be wary of anyone selling “pre-IPO OpenAI shares” or tokens with OpenAI’s name. This article is information only, not investment advice.
Who Runs OpenAI
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| Sam Altman | Co-founder and CEO. Briefly removed by the board in November 2023 and reinstated days later. |
| Bret Taylor | Chair of the board, appointed after the 2023 board shake-up. |
| Sarah Friar | Chief Financial Officer. |
Elon Musk was a co-founder and early funder in 2015 but left the board in 2018. He now runs xAI, which makes the rival chatbot Grok, and has been in a long legal dispute with OpenAI. He does not own ChatGPT.
What Does ChatGPT Stand For?
ChatGPT = Chat + Generative Pre-trained Transformer.
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Chat | You talk to it in a conversation, not with commands. |
| Generative | It generates new text, code and images rather than only finding existing pages. |
| Pre-trained | The model first learns from a huge amount of text, then is fine-tuned to follow instructions and be helpful. |
| Transformer | The neural network design, introduced by Google researchers in 2017, that almost all modern language models use. |
“GPT” is also the name of OpenAI’s model family (GPT-4, GPT-5 and so on), which is why many people say “GPT” when they mean ChatGPT.
A Short History of ChatGPT
- December 2015: OpenAI founded as a nonprofit lab by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever and others.
- 2019: capped-profit arm created; Microsoft makes its first $1 billion investment.
- November 30, 2022: ChatGPT launches as a free research preview and becomes one of the fastest-growing apps ever.
- 2023: ChatGPT Plus, GPT-4 and the brief Altman firing and return.
- October 2025: restructure into the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC.
- 2026: record funding rounds, with ChatGPT reported to reach roughly a billion weekly users.
For what the plans cost today, see our ChatGPT Free vs Go vs Plus vs Pro guide.
ChatGPT vs Copilot vs Other Chatbots: Who Owns Each
| Chatbot | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | OpenAI | Nonprofit-controlled PBC; Microsoft and SoftBank are big shareholders |
| Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft | Uses OpenAI models plus Microsoft’s own |
| Gemini | Google (Alphabet) | Built by Google DeepMind. See what is Google Gemini |
| Claude | Anthropic | Founded by ex-OpenAI staff; also a public benefit corporation |
| Grok | xAI | Elon Musk’s AI company |
| DeepSeek | DeepSeek (China) | Backed by the hedge fund High-Flyer |
For a feature-by-feature comparison, read ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs Grok.
How to Check You Are Using the Real ChatGPT
Because ChatGPT is so popular, there are many copycat apps and sites. Here is how to make sure you are on the official one.
- Website: use
chatgpt.com(the older chat.openai.com redirects there). - Android: in the Play Store, check that the developer is listed as OpenAI.
- iPhone: in the App Store, check the developer is OpenAI and the app is simply called ChatGPT.
- Desktop: download the Windows or Mac app only from chatgpt.com or the official app stores.
- Payments: pay only inside the official app or site. Third-party “ChatGPT Pro” resellers are not OpenAI.
Developers using the API should get keys only from OpenAI’s platform. Our OpenAI API key guide walks through it safely.
My Take
The simplest accurate answer is “OpenAI owns ChatGPT”. The interesting part is that OpenAI itself is a rare hybrid: a nonprofit at the top, a profit-making company underneath, and a shareholder list led by Microsoft, the Foundation and SoftBank.
Microsoft has a big financial stake and deep product ties, but it is a partner, not the owner.
Watch for an IPO filing. Until then, every exact percentage after 2025 is an estimate.
FAQ
Who is the owner of ChatGPT?
OpenAI. Its for-profit arm, OpenAI Group PBC, runs ChatGPT, and the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation controls that company.
Does Elon Musk own ChatGPT?
No. He co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left the board in 2018. He now owns xAI, which makes Grok.
Is ChatGPT owned by Microsoft?
No. Microsoft held about 27% of OpenAI Group PBC at the 2025 restructure and has rights to use its models, but OpenAI owns and runs ChatGPT.
Who is the CEO of ChatGPT?
Sam Altman is CEO of OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT.
What does ChatGPT stand for?
Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer.
Can I buy OpenAI stock?
Not on a public exchange. OpenAI is private. Microsoft and SoftBank are public companies with large stakes, but their shares reflect much more than OpenAI. This is information, not financial advice.
Is OpenAI still a nonprofit?
Partly. The OpenAI Foundation is a nonprofit and controls the company, but ChatGPT is run by OpenAI Group PBC, a for-profit public benefit corporation.
Which country owns ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is made by OpenAI, a US company based in San Francisco. It is not owned by any government.
Sources
- The Decoder: OpenAI restructures under new foundation, Microsoft takes 27% stake (Oct 2025)
- Implicator: OpenAI seals its restructure (Foundation stake, Microsoft terms)
- SoftBank’s OpenAI investment: $64.6B and about 13% (citing SoftBank’s TSE disclosure)
- OpenAI funding rounds and valuations
- Dataconomy: OpenAI reportedly raises $15B at $1.25T valuation (Nov 13, 2026)
