New York: Microsoft and OpenAI on Tuesday said they had reached a deal to allow the ChatGPT maker to restructure itself into a public benefit corporation, valuing OpenAI at $500 billion and clearing the way for it to become a publicly traded company.

Microsoft would hold a stake of about $135 billion – or 27% – in OpenAI Group PBC, which will be controlled by the OpenAI Foundation, a nonprofit. The deal removes a major constraint on raising capital for OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit AI safety group and which signed a deal in 2019 with Microsoft that gave the Redmond, Washington-based firm rights over much of OpenAI’s work in exchange for providing the costly cloud computing services neede2d to carry it out.

Microsoft shares jumped 4% on the deal, which could clear the way for

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