Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI's updated May 5 decision that it would continue to be overseen and controlled by its nonprofit may be a "step in the right direction" but it must offer more details about the concerns the Not For Private Gain group raised in its April 17 letter, the group said in a Monday letter to California and Delaware Attorneys General Robert Bonta and Kathleen Jennings.

The updated May 5 proposal "does not adequately" protect governance safeguards, which are about whether the startup "would continue to have a legally enforceable obligation to advance the charitable mission above all else," the letter said.

The group, in its April 17 letter to the attorneys general, raised concerns regarding OpenAI's proposed restructuring that would hand over control of the development and deployment of artificial general intelligence to a for-profit enterprise from a nonprofit charity.

The Monday letter also said that under the May 5 updated proposal, the only difference is that OpenAI-nonprofit would have "some" form of control over OpenAI-public benefit corporation, where directors would not have a "primary fiduciary duty" to carry forward the startup's charitable mission "above all else."

"As the Attorneys General of OpenAI-nonprofit's state of incorporation and the location where its charitable assets are held, you have the authority and responsibility to protect OpenAI-nonprofit's charitable mission and assets," the group wrote.

The group said that it is not minimizing the "significance" of the proposed changes, but it emphasizes to "underscore the singular importance" of ensuring that the startup continues to have a "legally enforceable obligation" towards the charitable mission.

Microsoft, OpenAI, and the offices of the attorneys general did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' requests for comment.