When a group of entrepreneurs and researchers led by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and Wojciech Zaremba announced the creation of OpenAI in December 2015, the idea seemed almost utopian. Their goal was not just to create artificial intelligence, but to make it safe and accessible to all of humanity.

The Beginning: A Non-Profit Mission and First Steps (2015–2018)

OpenAI was initially founded as a non-profit research organization to counter the growing influence of closed AI giants. Funding was provided by Musk, Altman, and other investors, who committed over $1 billion. In its early years, OpenAI focused on fundamental research in deep learning, reinforcement learning, and natural language processing. The team developed OpenAI Gym, a platform for testing machine learning algorithms, and Universe, an environment for training neural networks to interact with software and games.

The Breakthrough: GPT and the Era of Language Models (2018–2020)

In 2018, OpenAI introduced GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), a model capable of understanding and generating human-like text. The real breakthrough came with GPT-2 in 2019. The model amazed with its ability to write coherent texts, engage in dialogue, and even compose articles. OpenAI initially withheld the full version due to concerns about potential misuse—this was one of the first instances where AI ethics and safety became a subject of public debate. In 2020, GPT-3 emerged—a system with 175 billion parameters that changed perceptions of neural networks' capabilities. It became the foundation for numerous startups and tools, including the later ChatGPT and Codex.

Commercialization and Partnership with Microsoft (2019–2023)

To scale its research, OpenAI created a capped-profit subsidiary, OpenAI LP, in 2019. This structure allowed it to attract investment while maintaining its safety mission. Microsoft became a key partner, investing hundreds of millions initially, followed by multi-billion dollar commitments, providing Azure computing power and integrating OpenAI's models into its products—from Bing to Copilot. In November 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, based on GPT-3.5. Within months, the product became a viral phenomenon, amassing over 100 million users and reshaping the very concept of human-AI interaction.

The GPT-4 Era and the Shift to Everyday AI (2023–2025)

In March 2023, GPT-4 was released—more accurate, logical, and multimodal. It learned to understand images, generate code, and reason in complex scenarios. Later versions, GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-5, made the models faster, more accessible, and integrated features like memory, voice, and vision. OpenAI transformed from a research lab into one of the world's most influential technology companies, shaping the direction of the entire artificial intelligence industry.

The Mission Today

Despite its commercial success, OpenAI remains committed to its original goal of creating artificial intelligence that benefits all of humanity. The company actively researches AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), safety, model interpretability, and human-AI interaction. The name OpenAI reflects its founding principle of scientific openness—indeed, in its early years, the company publicly shared its models and code, fostering a culture of open AI research that has influenced the entire world.