History of OpenAI in Timeline

OpenAI is an American AI organization focused on developing safe and beneficial AGI. It's renowned for its GPT family of large language models, DALL-E text-to-image models, and the Sora text-to-video model. The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 significantly boosted public interest in generative AI. The company's core mission revolves around creating autonomous systems that surpass human capabilities in economically valuable tasks, while prioritizing safety and ethical considerations in AI development.

December 2015: First AI researchers hired

In December 2015, Greg Brockman hired nine AI researchers as the first employees of OpenAI.

December 2015: OpenAI founded as a not-for-profit organization

In December 2015, OpenAI was founded as a not-for-profit organization by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Ilya Sutskever, and others, with $1 billion pledged in capital.

2015: Musk and Altman express AI safety concerns

In 2015, Elon Musk and Sam Altman express concerns about AI safety and the potential risks of artificial general intelligence, motivating the creation of OpenAI to prioritize beneficial outcomes.

2015: OpenAI, Inc. founded in Delaware

In 2015, the non-profit OpenAI, Inc. was founded and registered in Delaware, marking the beginning of the organization.

April 2016: Public beta release of OpenAI Gym

In April 2016, OpenAI released a public beta of "OpenAI Gym", its platform for reinforcement learning research, providing tools for developing and comparing reinforcement learning algorithms.

August 2016: Nvidia gifts DGX-1 supercomputer to OpenAI

In August 2016, Nvidia gifted its first DGX-1 supercomputer to OpenAI to help train larger AI models and reduce processing time, enhancing OpenAI's computational capabilities.

December 2016: Release of Universe software platform

In December 2016, OpenAI released "Universe", a software platform for measuring and training an AI's general intelligence across various applications, websites, and games.

2016: OpenAI spends $7 million on its first 52 employees

In 2016, OpenAI spent $7 million on its first 52 employees, demonstrating a commitment to building a strong research team despite not offering salaries or stock options comparable to those of larger tech companies.

2017: OpenAI's cloud computing expenses

In 2017, OpenAI spent $7.9 million on cloud computing, representing a quarter of its functional expenses.

2018: Musk Resigns from OpenAI Board

In 2018, Elon Musk resigned from OpenAI's Board of Directors due to potential conflicts of interest with his role as CEO of Tesla and Tesla's AI development for self-driving cars. OpenAI stated that Musk's financial contributions were below $45 million.

2018: Computational resources for Dota 2 bots

In the summer of 2018, training OpenAI's Dota 2 bots required renting 128,000 CPUs and 256 GPUs from Google for multiple weeks, highlighting the significant computational resources needed for AI training.

February 2019: GPT-2 Announced

In February 2019, GPT-2 was announced, gaining attention for its ability to generate human-like text.

2019: Collected contributions for OpenAI

By 2019, the total collected amount of contributions to OpenAI was only $130 million out of the $1 billion that was pledged at its founding.

2019: Creation of OpenAI Global, LLC

In 2019, OpenAI created OpenAI Global, LLC, a capped-profit subsidiary controlled by the nonprofit, to attract investments.

2019: Transition to a capped-profit model

In 2019, OpenAI transitioned from a non-profit to a "capped" for-profit model, with profits capped at 100 times any investment. This allowed OpenAI Global, LLC to attract venture funding and grant employees stakes in the company.

December 2020: Employees Depart to Establish Anthropic

Between December 2020 and January 2021, eleven employees left OpenAI to establish Anthropic.

2020: OpenAI Announces GPT-3 and Commercial API

In 2020, OpenAI announced GPT-3, a language model trained on large internet datasets, designed for natural language question answering. It also announced a commercial API.

January 2021: Employees Depart to Establish Anthropic

Between December 2020 and January 2021, eleven employees left OpenAI to establish Anthropic.

November 2021: OpenAI Outsourcing Data Annotation to Sama

In November 2021, OpenAI began sending snippets of data to Sama to annotate data sets used to train an AI model to detect toxicity. Sama, based in San Francisco and employing workers in Kenya, paid its annotators very little to review graphic violent content, leaving them mentally scarred.

2021: OpenAI Used Youtube Videos to Train GPT-4

In 2021, OpenAI developed Whisper and used it to transcribe more than one million hours of YouTube videos into text for training GPT-4. Concerns were raised regarding potential violations of YouTube's terms of service, but the project proceeded.

2021: Previous Valuation

In 2021, OpenAI had a valuation that would later double to $29 billion by January 2023.

2021: OpenAI Introduces DALL-E

In 2021, OpenAI introduced DALL-E, a deep learning model that generates digital images from textual descriptions using a variant of the GPT-3 architecture.

November 2022: ChatGPT release catalyzes generative AI interest

In November 2022, OpenAI's release of ChatGPT significantly boosted widespread interest in generative AI. ChatGPT is a text-based model that has opened up interest for the general public in AI applications and large language models.

December 2022: ChatGPT Free Preview Launched

In December 2022, OpenAI launched a free preview of ChatGPT, its AI chatbot based on GPT-3.5, receiving over a million signups within the first five days.

January 2023: Funding talks value OpenAI at $29 billion

In January 2023, OpenAI Global, LLC was in talks for funding that would value the company at $29 billion, doubling its 2021 valuation.

January 23, 2023: Microsoft announces $10 billion investment

On January 23, 2023, Microsoft announced a new US$10 billion investment in OpenAI Global, LLC over multiple years, partially needed to utilize Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing service.

February 7, 2023: Microsoft Integrates AI with ChatGPT Foundation

On February 7, 2023, Microsoft announced it was building AI technology based on the same foundation as ChatGPT into Microsoft Bing, Edge, Microsoft 365 and other products.

March 3, 2023: Reid Hoffman Resigns from OpenAI Board

On March 3, 2023, Reid Hoffman resigned from his OpenAI board seat to avoid conflicts of interest with his investments in AI companies through Greylock Partners and his co-founding of Inflection AI. He remained on the Microsoft board, a major OpenAI investor.

March 14, 2023: OpenAI Releases GPT-4

On March 14, 2023, OpenAI released GPT-4 as an API and a feature of ChatGPT Plus.

March 2023: Criticism for Lack of Technical Details on GPT-4

In March 2023, OpenAI was criticized for disclosing particularly few technical details about products like GPT-4, contradicting its initial commitment to openness. OpenAI cited competitiveness and safety concerns to justify this strategic turn.

April 2023: EU Forms Task Force on ChatGPT

In April 2023, the EU's European Data Protection Board (EDPB) formed a dedicated task force on ChatGPT to foster cooperation and exchange information on possible enforcement actions.

May 2023: Recommendations for the Governance of Superintelligence

In May 2023, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever posted recommendations for the governance of superintelligence. They stated that superintelligence could happen within the next 10 years and proposed creating an international watchdog organization.

June 2023: Lawsuit Claims OpenAI Scraped Data Without Consent

In June 2023, a lawsuit claimed that OpenAI scraped 300 billion words online without consent and without registering as a data broker, filed by sixteen anonymous plaintiffs in San Francisco, California. They also claimed that OpenAI and its partner Microsoft continued to unlawfully collect and use personal data from millions of consumers worldwide to train artificial intelligence models.

July 2023: OpenAI Launches Superalignment Project

In July 2023, OpenAI launched the superalignment project, aiming to find within 4 years how to align future superintelligences by automating alignment research using AI. OpenAI promised to dedicate 20% of its computing resources to the project.

July 2023: Authors Sue OpenAI for Copyright Infringement

In July 2023, OpenAI was sued for copyright infringement by authors Sarah Silverman, Matthew Butterick, Paul Tremblay and Mona Awad.

July 2023: FTC Investigates OpenAI

In July 2023, the FTC launched an investigation into OpenAI over allegations that the company scraped public data and published false and defamatory information. They requested information about its technology and privacy safeguards. Concern with circular spending involving Microsoft Azure credits was also reported.

August 2023: OpenAI Acquires Global Illumination

In August 2023, OpenAI acquired Global Illumination, a New York-based startup that uses AI for digital infrastructure and creative tools development.

September 2023: Authors Guild Files Class Action Lawsuit Against OpenAI

In September 2023, 17 authors, including George R. R. Martin, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and Jonathan Franzen, joined the Authors Guild in filing a class action lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging illegal use of their copyrighted work.

September 21, 2023: Microsoft begins rebranding Copilot

On September 21, 2023, Microsoft began rebranding all variants of its Copilot to Microsoft Copilot, including the former Bing Chat and the Microsoft 365 Copilot.

November 6, 2023: OpenAI Launches GPTs

On November 6, 2023, OpenAI launched GPTs, allowing individuals to create customized versions of ChatGPT for specific purposes.

November 14, 2023: ChatGPT Plus New Sign-ups Temporarily Suspended

On November 14, 2023, OpenAI announced the temporary suspension of new sign-ups for ChatGPT Plus due to high demand.

November 2023: Sam Altman's removal and reinstatement as CEO

In November 2023, OpenAI's board removed Sam Altman as CEO due to a lack of confidence, but reinstated him five days later after board reconstruction.

November 17, 2023: Sam Altman removed as CEO

On November 17, 2023, Sam Altman was removed as CEO by the OpenAI board, citing a lack of confidence, and Mira Murati took over as interim CEO.

November 18, 2023: Talks of Altman returning as CEO

On November 18, 2023, talks of Altman returning as CEO occurred amid investor pressure. He considered starting a new company if reinstatement talks failed.

November 19, 2023: Negotiations with Altman to return fail

On November 19, 2023, negotiations with Altman to return failed, and Emmett Shear replaced Mira Murati as interim CEO. The board also approached Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei with offers that were declined.

November 20, 2023: Altman and Brockman to Join Microsoft

On November 20, 2023, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman would be joining Microsoft to lead a new AI research team, but remained committed to OpenAI. OpenAI employees threatened to quit and investors considered legal action, prompting negotiations with Altman to resume.

November 21, 2023: Altman and Brockman Return to OpenAI

On November 21, 2023, after negotiations, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman returned to their previous roles at OpenAI. A reconstructed board was formed with Bret Taylor as chairman, Lawrence Summers, and D'Angelo remaining.

November 29, 2023: Microsoft Employee Joins OpenAI Board as Observer

On November 29, 2023, OpenAI announced that an anonymous Microsoft employee had joined the board as a non-voting member to observe the company's operations.

December 2023: Addition of MS-Copilot to Windows

In December 2023, Microsoft added the MS-Copilot to many installations of Windows 11 and Windows 10, as well as a standalone Microsoft Copilot app released for Android and iOS.

December 2023: The New York Times Sues OpenAI

In late December 2023, The New York Times also sued OpenAI for copyright infringement.

2023: Projected Revenue for 2023

In December 2022, OpenAI Global, LLC projected $200 million of revenue in 2023.

January 10, 2024: OpenAI lifted Ban on Using ChatGPT for "military and warfare"

OpenAI was criticized for lifting its ban on using ChatGPT for "military and warfare". Up until January 10, 2024, its "usage policies" included a ban on "activity that has high risk of physical harm, including", specifically, "weapons development" and "military and warfare". Its new policies prohibit "[using] our service to harm yourself or others" and to "develop or use weapons".

January 2024: Arizona State University Purchases ChatGPT Enterprise

In January 2024, Arizona State University purchased ChatGPT Enterprise, marking OpenAI's first deal with a university.

February 2024: Lawsuit Against OpenAI on Copyright Litigation Ground

In February 2024, The Intercept as well as Raw Story and Alternate Media Inc. filed lawsuit against OpenAI on copyright litigation ground. The lawsuit is said to have charted a new legal strategy for digital-only publishers to sue OpenAI.

February 2024: SEC Subpoenas OpenAI

In February 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed OpenAI's internal communication to investigate whether Sam Altman misled investors.

April 2024: NOYB Files Complaint Against OpenAI

In late April 2024, NOYB filed a complaint with the Austrian Datenschutzbehörde against OpenAI for violating the European General Data Protection Regulation regarding data accuracy and access.

April 30, 2024: Newspapers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft for Copyright Infringement

On April 30, 2024, eight newspapers, including The Mercury News and Chicago Tribune, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming illegal harvesting of their copyrighted articles.

May 2024: Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike Resign from OpenAI

In May 2024, Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever resigned from OpenAI and was succeeded by Jakub Pachocki. Co-leader Jan Leike also departed amid concerns over safety and trust. OpenAI then signed deals with Reddit, News Corp, Axios, and Vox Media, and Paul Nakasone joined the board.

May 2024: OpenAI Ends Superalignment Project

In May 2024, OpenAI ended the superalignment project after its co-leaders Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike left the company.

May 2024: OpenAI Destroyed Training Datasets Books1 and Books2

In May 2024, it was revealed that OpenAI had destroyed its Books1 and Books2 training datasets, used in GPT-3 training, which the Authors Guild believed contained over 100,000 copyrighted books.

May 22, 2024: OpenAI Partners with News Corp

On May 22, 2024, OpenAI entered into an agreement with News Corp to integrate news content from publications like The Wall Street Journal into its AI platform.

May 23, 2024: OpenAI Released Former Employees from Non-Disparagement Agreement

On May 23, 2024, OpenAI sent a memo releasing former employees from a lifelong non-disparagement agreement that forbade them from criticizing OpenAI. The agreement previously stipulated the forfeiture of vested equity, a provision that OpenAI claimed it never enforced.

June 2024: OpenAI Acquires Multi

In June 2024, OpenAI acquired Multi, a startup focused on remote collaboration.

July 2024: Microsoft Resigns from OpenAI Board

In July 2024, Microsoft resigned from the OpenAI Board.

August 2024: John Schulman Leaves OpenAI

In August 2024, OpenAI co-founder John Schulman left OpenAI to join Anthropic, and OpenAI's president Greg Brockman took extended leave until November.

September 2024: Mira Murati Leaves OpenAI

In September 2024, CTO Mira Murati left OpenAI.

September 2024: OpenAI Endorses UK's AI Regulation

In September 2024, OpenAI's global affairs chief endorsed the UK's "smart" AI regulation during testimony to a House of Lords committee.

October 2024: Suchir Balaji Accused OpenAI of Violating Copyright Law

In October 2024 during a New York Times interview, Suchir Balaji accused OpenAI of violating copyright law in developing its commercial LLMs. He was a likely witness in a major copyright trial against the AI company.

October 2024: OpenAI completes capital raise with $157 billion valuation

In October 2024, OpenAI completed a $6.6 billion capital raise with a $157 billion valuation, including investments from Microsoft, Nvidia, and SoftBank.

October 2024: OpenAI's Tools Essential for AFRICOM

In October 2024, The Intercept revealed that OpenAI's tools are considered "essential" for AFRICOM's mission and are included in a contractual agreement between the United States Department of Defense and Microsoft.

November 2024: Canadian News Outlets Sue OpenAI

In November 2024, a coalition of Canadian news outlets, including the Toronto Star and CBC, sued OpenAI for using their news articles to train its software without permission.

November 26, 2024: Suchir Balaji Dies

On November 26, 2024, Suchir Balaji shot himself dead. His death led to conspiracy theories, and Congressman Ro Khanna endorsed calls for an investigation.

December 2024: OpenAI Partners with Anduril for Drone Defense

In December 2024, OpenAI announced it would partner with defense-tech company Anduril to build drone defense technologies for the United States and its allies.

December 2024: OpenAI Launches Sora, o1, and ChatGPT Pro

In December 2024, OpenAI launched the Sora model and OpenAI o1, an early reasoning model. Additionally, ChatGPT Pro, a $200/month subscription service, was introduced. Preliminary benchmark results for upcoming OpenAI o3 models were shared.

December 2024: Proposed restructuring plan

In December 2024, OpenAI proposed a restructuring plan to convert the capped-profit subsidiary into a Delaware-based public benefit corporation and release it from the control of the nonprofit, which aimed to secure additional investments.

2024: Microsoft is CoreWeave's Biggest Customer

In 2024, Microsoft was already CoreWeave's biggest customer.

2024: Revenue report

In 2024, OpenAI generated $3.7 billion in revenue, showcasing a growing business before reaching $12 billion annualized in July 2025.

2024: OpenAI Collaborates with Broadcom on Custom AI Chip

In 2024, OpenAI started working with Broadcom to design a custom AI chip for training and inference, with mass production targeted for 2026.

2024: Employee Departures from OpenAI

In 2024, following Sam Altman's temporary removal and return, several employees gradually left OpenAI, including much of the original leadership team and a significant number of AI safety researchers.

2024: Projected Revenue for 2024

In December 2022, OpenAI Global, LLC projected $1 billion in revenue in 2024.

2024: OpenAI Acquires io

On May 21, OpenAI announced the $6.5 billion acquisition of io, an AI hardware start-up founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive in 2024.

2024: AI safety researchers leave OpenAI

Throughout 2024, approximately half of the then-employed AI safety researchers left OpenAI, citing the company's role in an industry-wide problem.

January 21, 2025: Donald Trump announces The Stargate Project

On January 21, 2025, Donald Trump announced The Stargate Project, a $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and MGX to build an AI infrastructure system with the US government.

January 23, 2025: OpenAI Releases Operator

On January 23, 2025, OpenAI released Operator, an AI agent and web automation tool, available to Pro users in the United States.

February 2025: OpenAI interested in collaborating with China

In February 2025, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that the company is interested in collaborating with the People's Republic of China, despite regulatory restrictions imposed by the U.S. government, in response to the growing influence of DeepSeek.

February 2025: Rejection of unsolicited bid to buy OpenAI

In February 2025, a consortium led by Elon Musk made a $97.4 billion unsolicited bid to buy the nonprofit controlling OpenAI. The offer was rejected on February 14, 2025, as OpenAI stated it was not for sale.

March 2025: OpenAI Advocated for Federal AI Laws

In March 2025, OpenAI advocated for preempting state AI laws with federal laws. Public Citizen opposed a federal preemption on AI and pointed to OpenAI's growth and valuation as evidence that existing state laws have not hampered innovation.

March 2025: OpenAI Invests in CoreWeave and AI Infrastructure

In March 2025, OpenAI reached a deal with CoreWeave to acquire $350 million worth of CoreWeave shares and access to AI infrastructure, in return for $11.9 billion paid over five years.

April 2025: Microsoft investment and OpenAI leadership structure

As of April 2025, OpenAI is led by the non-profit OpenAI, Inc., which has multiple for-profit subsidiaries. Microsoft has invested over $13 billion into OpenAI and provides Azure cloud computing resources.

April 2025: ChatGPT subscriptions reach 20 million

By April 2025, ChatGPT subscriptions reached 20 million paid subscribers, up from 15.5 million at the end of 2024, contributing to increased revenue.

April 2025: OpenAI raises $40 billion at $300 billion valuation

In April 2025, OpenAI raised $40 billion at a $300 billion post-money valuation, becoming the highest-value private technology deal in history, led by SoftBank with participation from Microsoft and others.

May 2025: Criticism of OpenAI's Non-Disparagement Agreement

Before May 2025, OpenAI required departing employees to sign a lifelong non-disparagement agreement. Daniel Kokotajlo forfeited his vested equity to leave without signing. Sam Altman claimed ignorance of the equity cancellation provision, but leaked documents refuted this.

May 2025: Nonprofit renounces plans to cede control

In May 2025, the nonprofit controlling OpenAI renounced plans to cede control after external pressure, although the capped-profit still plans to transition to a public benefit corporation.

June 2025: OpenAI Awarded $200 Million DoD Contract

In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded OpenAI a $200 million one-year contract to develop AI tools for military and national security applications. OpenAI also announced a new program, OpenAI for Government, to provide governments access to its models.

July 2025: Annualized revenue of $12 billion reported

In July 2025, OpenAI reported annualized revenue of $12 billion, driven by ChatGPT subscriptions and a growing enterprise customer base, up from $3.7 billion in 2024.

July 2025: AI Models Solve Mathematics Problems

In July 2025, reports indicated that AI models from OpenAI and Google DeepMind solved mathematics problems at the level of top-performing students in the International Mathematical Olympiad, with OpenAI's large language model achieving gold medal-level performance.

August 1, 2025: OpenAI Removes Share with Search Engines Feature

On August 1, 2025, OpenAI announced the permanent removal of the "share with search engines" feature, acknowledging a design flaw that heightened privacy risks.

August 2025: Private ChatGPT Conversations Exposed

In August 2025, OpenAI was criticized after thousands of private ChatGPT conversations were inadvertently exposed to public search engines like Google due to an experimental "share with search engines" feature.

August 2025: Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against OpenAI

In August 2025, the parents of a 16-year-old boy who died by suicide filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that months of conversations with ChatGPT about mental health and self-harm methods contributed to their son's death.

September 2025: OpenAI Acquires Statsig and Plans AI-Driven Hiring Service

In September 2025, OpenAI agreed to acquire the product testing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion in an all-stock deal and appointed Statsig's founding CEO Vijaye Raji as OpenAI's chief technology officer of applications. OpenAI also announced plans to develop an AI-driven hiring service to compete with LinkedIn.

September 2025: OpenAI and NVIDIA Partnership Announced

In September 2025, OpenAI and NVIDIA announced a partnership, including a potential deployment of at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems and a $100 billion investment from NVIDIA in OpenAI.

September 2025: OpenAI Releases Study on ChatGPT Usage

In September 2025, OpenAI released a study revealing that "non-work tasks" account for more than 72 percent of all ChatGPT usage, with a minority of overall usage related to business productivity.

September 2025: OpenAI Contracts with Oracle for Computing Power

In September 2025, it was revealed that OpenAI signed a contract with Oracle to purchase $300 billion in computing power over the next five years.

October 2025: OpenAI Acquires Roi

In October 2025, OpenAI acquired the personal finance app Roi.

October 2025: OpenAI Announces Multi-Billion Dollar Deal with AMD

In October 2025, OpenAI announced a multi-billion dollar deal with AMD to purchase six gigawatts worth of AMD chips, starting with the MI450. OpenAI has the option to buy up to 160 million shares of AMD.

October 2025: Employee share sale values OpenAI at $500 billion

In October 2025, OpenAI completed an employee share sale of up to $10 billion to existing investors, valuing the company at $500 billion and surpassing SpaceX as the world's most valuable private company.

2025: Projected $8 billion loss

In 2025, OpenAI projects to lose $8 billion due to the high computational costs of training and running large language models.

2025: Kevin Weil Joins U.S. Army Detachment 201

In 2025, OpenAI's Chief Product Officer, Kevin Weil, was commissioned lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army to join Detachment 201 as a senior advisor.

2026: Projected spending to reach $17 billion

In 2026, OpenAI's spending is projected to reach $17 billion as it expands compute infrastructure and invests in model training.

2026: Target Mass Production of Custom AI Chip

In 2026, the custom AI chip developed with Broadcom is targeted for mass production to be manufactured by TSMC in 3 nm node.

2027: Projected spending to reach $35 billion

In 2027, OpenAI's spending is projected to reach $35 billion as it expands compute infrastructure and invests in model training.

2028: Projected spending to reach $45 billion

In 2028, OpenAI's spending is projected to reach $45 billion as it expands compute infrastructure and invests in model training.

2029: Targeting cash flow positive operations

By 2029, OpenAI aims to achieve cash flow positive operations, reflecting a strategic shift towards long-term financial sustainability.

2029: Cash burn estimate

By 2029, OpenAI expects to burn approximately $115 billion, significantly more than previous estimates, with a focus on expanding compute infrastructure and model training.