The deeper issue is structural, not just investor misunderstanding. OpenAI converted from a nonprofit-controlled entity to a PBC specifically to attract this kind of capital. When you take $6.6B from investors expecting returns, you create fiduciary pressures that are hard to keep out of strategic decisions regardless of what the mission statement says.

The 2023 board fight illustrated exactly this conflict in real time: the board tried to exercise mission-aligned oversight and was effectively overruled by capital. The new governance structure gave investors more influence, not less.

"We take the mission seriously" and "we need to justify an $852B valuation" can coexist for a while, but not forever. The investors may be revenue-focused, but they were invited in under terms that make their expectations structurally legitimate — which is what makes this more than just a perception problem.