LMSYS Corp

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
994817542
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Computer Science

Reported finances

Revenue
$889,293
Expenses
$202,508
Assets
$686,785
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lianmin Zheng (Vice President & Secretary)

People named in this filing

  • Ying Sheng (Prsident)
  • Lianmin Zheng (Vice President & Secretary)
  • Tiancheng Xie (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

LMSYS Corp advances open research and education in large-scale model systems by developing and sharing open-source models, datasets, systems, and evaluation tools that promote transparency, accessibility, and collaboration across the global research community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Educational Outreach and Community Engagement: LMSYS Corp hosts workshops, tutorials, and educational events to bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI research and broader public understanding. We engage with universities, research groups, and open-source communities to support hands-on learning opportunities and promote best practices in responsible AI development. Our outreach activities foster global participation and empower individuals to contribute meaningfully to the open AI ecosystem.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 53
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 22%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 96.7%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 77.2%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.39; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 200% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 200% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 22% of revenue deployed · 96.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $196K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.