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Comment by Jensson | Hacker News Reader

Why is OpenAI investing in startups? They invest 100 million in another as well. I thought OpenAI was building their own things as a non profit, why are they investing? Is it normal for non profits to invest like this? Do they lack confidence in their own stuff, do OpenAI have too much money they don't know what to do with?

"Norwegian humanoid robot startup 1X Technologies recently raised $100 million with backing from OpenAI"

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/29/robot-startup-figure-valued-...

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Yes, it's quite common, see for example:

https://mozilla.vc/

https://www.cff.org/about-us/our-venture-philanthropy-model

this is not even a fair comparison. mozilla isn't using all of our data to build a product that will be metered

Apparently it is a separate entity and fund, they don't invest money from OpenAI but money raised specifically for investing. So this doesn't say much about OpenAI, they aren't investing money they could use themselves.

https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-vc-fund-raised-10-mil...

1. They're not a nonprofit 2. They had shut down their robotics wing so now their using investment to get back into the game. 3. What's with this negative tone?

OpenAI no longer operates as a non-profit. The "OpenAI" name has been a joke for years in tech circles for this reason.

I thought the joke was that OpenAI doesn't grant anything even resembling an "open" license (whether free as in freedom according to the FSF, open as in open source according to the OSI, or open as in Open Knowledge's definition [1]) to use OpenAI's models. (Tangential reminder: open is not merely access to the code and data but also the legal freedom to use and modify it for any purpose.)

[1] https://opendefinition.org/od/2.1/en/

Asking this question on a platform pretty much aligned with Sam Altman and expecting real nuanced answer is unrealistic.

Remember they shut down the thread regarding Sam Altman's sister alleging she was molested by him.

Its just incredibly sad to see how society is quick to overlook one's transgressions if it stands to benefit from that individual. Artists, CEOs, politicians, celebrities.

Just one sick world and this blatant disregard for "non-profit" because bunch of men feel they were chosen.

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