West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey joined a coalition of 10 states in a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), raising concerns about OpenAI going public and the integrity of public markets. Led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, the coalition is asking the Commission to apply especially stringent scrutiny to any filings submitted by OpenAI, seeking to protect the legal rights of state investment funds that provide retirement benefits for public employees. In addition, the states are working to protect citizens from fraud that could impact individual investments.
The states are asking for stricter scrutiny of OpenAI’s filing because of questionable business practices by the company’s founder and CEO, Sam Altman, who has “a history of self-dealing and serious conflicts of interest that have created significant risk for the company. To protect investors and ensure fair and orderly markets, the Commission must not permit that apparent misconduct to persist if OpenAI goes public,” according to the letter.
“When individuals and states invest in the public market, we need to be vigilant that those monies are being handled in the most credible way possible. People work hard, save and invest to provide for their future. We want to protect the money invested to finance public employees’ retirement funds. We need to ensure that these investments are protected from fraud,” Attorney General McCuskey said.
The coalition stressed that complete disclosure is essential for investors, including state residents and public pension funds, to make informed decisions regarding OpenAI's stock.
West Virginia was joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska and Oklahoma in the Montana-led letter, which can be read here.
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