OpenAI Raises $6.6 Bln In Funding With $157 Bln Valuation

Chatbot ChatGPT maker OpenAI has raised $6.6 billion in its new funding round to accelerate its efforts in the artificial general intelligence or AGI for humanity’s benefit, reaching post-money valuation at $157 billion.

In a blog post, the Microsoft-backed AI startup noted that the new funding would allow it to double down on its leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems.

OpenAI said, “And we’re only getting started. We aim to make advanced intelligence a widely accessible resource. We’re grateful to our investors for their trust in us, and we look forward to working with our partners, developers, and the broader community to shape an AI-powered ecosystem and future that benefits everyone. By collaborating with key partners, including the U.S. and allied governments, we can unlock this technology‘s full potential.”

As per reports, OpenAI received further investment from Microsoft, as well as from other major companies including Nvidia, SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, and MGX.

Thrive Capital, which previously invested about $1 billion in the company, reportedly led the new funding round with an option to invest upto $1 billion more at the same valuation.

The new valuation is significantly higher than the $86 billion valuation from the company’s tender offer earlier this year, and a surge from the $14 billion valuation in 2021.

ChatGPT tells us that OpenAI has received significant investment from various sources, including technology companies and venture capital firms. In 2020, Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI, and in January 2023, it raised $10 billion from the tech giant.

OpenAI’s latest funding round happens at a time when the company, which was founded as a non-profit to build safe and beneficial AGI for the benefit of humanity, is reportedly planning to restructure its core business to become a for-profit benefit business, aiming to attract more investors.

Major leadership changes also happened recently, with OpenAI’s longtime Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, as well as research chief Bob McGrew and research vice president Barret Zoph announcing their departure from the firm.

OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, is considered a major player in the AI industry with the super success of its chatbot ChatGPT. According to the firm, every week, over 250 million people around the world use ChatGPT to enhance their work, creativity, and learning.

The generative AI tool has seen a rapid growth since its launch in 2022. The company expects its numbers to grow further after iPhone maker Apple at its developers conference in June, introduced Apple Intelligence with a number of AI features backed by a partnership with OpenAI.

San Francisco-based OpenAI recently said it has more than 1 million paid users for the business versions of ChatGPT, which was introduced a year ago in a bid to boost revenue, reflecting growing demand. The company’s nearly half of OpenAI’s corporate users are based in the U.S.

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