OpenAI Officially Raises $6.6 Billion, Valuing It at $157 Billion

On October 3, artificial intelligence startup OpenAI Completed a new $6.6 billion roundfinancingThe company's post-investment valuation of $157 billion is nearly double the approximately $86 billion it was valued at when employees sold their existing shares late last year.

The round was led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, which invested $1.25 billion in OpenAI, whose longtime backer Microsoft invested no more than $1 billion. New investors include Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group, which invested about $500 million, and AI chip giant NVIDIA, which invested about $100 million. Apple, which was previously involved in negotiations for this round of financing, ultimately did not invest.

Other investors involved in the round include Silicon Valley VC Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and MGX, a UAE state-backed company founded this year that focuses on investing in artificial intelligence companies.

Investors will need to invest at least $250 million to gain access to OpenAI's financial documents. It's also worth noting that the funding round includes a clause that gives investors the right to divest if OpenAI fails to complete its planned conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit company.

This shift, along with the discord within the company between members of the founding team and senior management, has sparked tensions within OpenAI. They are divided between those who believe that money and fame have diverted OpenAI from its original mission of developing AI for the public good, and those who believe that the purpose of selling products and making profits is to fund more research and bring AI to the masses for the benefit of society. The recent wave of executive departures within OpenAI reflects this growing divide within the company.

For now, OpenAI remains a non-profit charity, holding a for-profit division through which investors can receive shares in future profits.

OpenAI is a leader in generative artificial intelligence, with 250 million weekly active users and 11 million paid subscribers to its AI chat app ChatGPT, and about 1 million commercial customers paying to use its technology.

But OpenAI still faces stiff competition from industries like social giant Meta and search giant Google, as well as startups like Anthropic, which have released big models and related apps that are capable of catching up with, or even surpassing, OpenAI's own products, making it especially important for OpenAI to raise significant funds to invest in R&D and stay ahead of the curve. It's especially important for OpenAI to raise a lot of money to invest in R&D and stay ahead of the curve.

Financing History:

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research organization founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Since its inception, OpenAI has attracted a large number of investors and partners, and has received significant financial support. Below is a detailed description of OpenAI's funding history:

• August 2016: closed a $120,000 Pre-seed round.
• March 2019: Closed a seed round for an undisclosed amount.
• April 2019: Closed a $10 million angel round.
• July 2019: Closed a $1 billion angel+ round of financing.
• 2021: OpenAI closed two rounds of financing, including an undisclosed amount and a Pre-A round, both for undisclosed amounts.
• January 2022: Closed a $250 million Series A round of financing.
• January 2023: OpenAI sees the largest funding round in its history, with Microsoft investing around $10 billion, the largest funding round recorded in AI to date. This financing gives OpenAI a huge boost and provides solid financial backing for its leadership in AI.
• April 2023: another $300 million Series B funding round closed (part of the same round as the Microsoft investment in January).