The Securities and Exchange Commission is scrutinizing internal communications by OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman as part of an investigation into whether the company’s investors were misled. The regulator, whose probe hasn’t previously been reported, has been seeking internal records from current and former OpenAI officials and directors, and sent a subpoena to OpenAI in December, according to people familiar with the matter. That followed the OpenAI board’s decision in November to fire Altman as CEO and oust him from the board. At the time, directors said Altman hadn’t been “consistently candid in his communications,” but didn’t elaborate. Altman returned as CEO less than two weeks later as part of a deal that also entailed a reconstituted board, which he hasn’t joined. SEC officials based in New York are conducting the investigation and have asked that some senior OpenAI officials preserve internal documents. The SEC enforces laws that forbid people from misleading investors, regardless of whether fundraisers seek capital in public or private markets. The SEC often closes investigations without making formal accusations of wrongdoing. Some of the people familiar with the investigation described it as a predictable response to the former OpenAI board’s claim in its November statement. One of the people said that the SEC hasn’t pointed to any specific statement or communication by Altman that it has deemed misleading. The SEC’s civil investigation has been percolating in the background as OpenAI officials pitched investors as part of its recently closed tender offer, which valued the AI juggernaut behind viral chatbot ChatGPT at more than $80 billion. OpenAI is governed by a nonprofit. Investors in its for-profit arm include employees, venture capitalists, and Microsoft, which has committed $13 billion to the company in exchange for what is essentially a 49% stake in the earnings of its for-profit arm.
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