OpenAI raises $40 billion in funding, now among the world's most valuable private companies

OpenAI closes $40 billion in funding; now worth more than ...

ChatGPT creator OpenAI recently announced that it has secured up to $40 billion in new funding in a new fundraising round. The primary investor in this round is SoftBank Group, a Japanese investment group that has committed a total of $40 billion, split into $10 billion in mid-April and an additional $30 billion in December. However, this funding is contingent on OpenAI transitioning to a for-profit model by the end of the year. Additionally, a portion of the investment, $10 billion, will be shared with co-investors such as Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital, and Thrive Capital.

This new funding round has pushed OpenAI's valuation to a staggering $300 billion, making it more valuable than prominent public companies like McDonald’s and Chevron. This valuation places OpenAI among the most valuable private companies in the world as well, according to Quartz.

OpenAI has stated that the $40 billion funding will be utilized to further AI research, enhance their compute infrastructure, and provide advanced tools for the millions of users who engage with ChatGPT every week.

The support from SoftBank is crucial for OpenAI to develop AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, boost human creativity, and progress towards achieving AGI for the benefit of humanity.

Collaborations and Initiatives

OpenAI is collaborating with SoftBank and Oracle to establish a network of data centers as part of the $500 billion Stargate project, focusing on powering AI workloads in the U.S.

This initiative, announced in January, involves other companies like Microsoft, Nvidia, MGX, and Arm in addition to SoftBank and Oracle.

SoftBank has expressed its dedication to realizing Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) to advance humanity, with its Vision 2 fund already investing $2.2 billion in OpenAI to support this goal.

Overall, this significant funding injection will enable OpenAI to expand its research capabilities, infrastructure, and impact in the field of artificial intelligence, setting the stage for groundbreaking advancements in the future.