Today, OpenAI has just closed the largest VC funding round ever, raising $6.6 billion and boosting its valuation to $157 billion. Led by Thrive Capital, this latest round brings OpenAI’s total funding to $17.9 billion.
Thrive invested approximately $1.3 billion and has the option to add another $1 billion at the same valuation by 2025. Other investors include Microsoft, which invested just under $1 billion; Nvidia, with $100 million; and SoftBank, contributing $500 million.
ChatGPT
“The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems. 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.”
OpenAI’s latest funding round comes with some unusual requests, as the Financial Times reports that the company asked investors not to support competitors like Anthropic and xAI.
With the $6.6 billion raised, OpenAI is now valued at $157 billion, making it the best-funded AI startup in the world. In comparison, Elon Musk’s xAI raised over $6 billion but is valued at just $24 billion, while Anthropic has brought in $9.7 billion since it started.
OpenAI is investing heavily to maintain its AI lead, spending around $7 billion on model training and $1.5 billion on staff. Training GPT-4 alone cost over $100 million, and at one point, ChatGPT was costing the company $700,000 per day to operate.
OpenAI is the leader in generative AI, boasting over 250 million users and an annual revenue of more than $3.4 billion, with ChatGPT alone projected to bring in $2.7 billion this year. Partnering with Microsoft and Apple, OpenAI aims for $100 billion in revenue by 2029 but faces competition from startups like Runway and Luma Labs.
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To stay ahead, OpenAI may increase its ChatGPT Plus subscription from $20 to $44 monthly and is considering a shift to a for-profit model to attract more investments.
With this new funding, OpenAI aims to boost its AI capabilities and stay ahead of the competition. Despite facing challenges like changes in leadership and direction, OpenAI remains committed to innovation and is set to shape the future of generative AI.
