OpenAI has completed a much-anticipated funding round at a valuation of $157 billion, including $6.6 billion that the company raised from a wide range of investment firms and major technology companies.
OpenAI did not name the investors in Wednesday’s press release, but people familiar with the matter said the round was led by Thrive Capital and included participation from existing backers. microsoft as well as chip manufacturers NvidiaSoftbank, etc. CNBC previously reported that Thrive plans to invest $1 billion in this round.
OpenAI’s rapid rise, starting with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, has been the biggest buzz in the tech industry for the last few years, bringing the concept of generative artificial intelligence to the mainstream and paving the way for tens of billions of dollars. I did. Percentage of investment in AI infrastructure.
“The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase our computing power, and continue to build tools that help people solve tough problems,” OpenAI said in a blog post Wednesday. ” he said.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with OpenAI,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
OpenAI generated $300 million in revenue last month, an increase of 1,700% since the beginning of last year, CNBC confirmed last week following a New York Times report. The company expects sales of $11.6 billion next year, up from $3.7 billion in 2024, said a person close to OpenAI, who asked not to be identified because the financials are confidential.
But that revenue is very expensive, as OpenAI needs to buy more Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to train and run its large language models. The company is expected to lose about $5 billion this year, the person said. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, making it a key partner as the software giant powers its Azure cloud business.
Earlier this year, OpenAI’s valuation was reported at $80 billion, up from $29 billion in 2023. Following ChatGPT’s viral growth, momentum continues with new products for enterprises and expansion into AI-generated photos and videos.
OpenAI currently has 250 million weekly active users on ChatGPT, CFO Sarah Friar told CNBC in a statement. ChatGPT Plus has 11 million subscribers and ChatGPT has 1 million paid business users, according to people close to the company.
“AI is already personalizing learning, accelerating medical advances, and increasing productivity,” Friar said in a statement. “And this is just the beginning.”
OpenAI has experienced many growing pains along the way, including the loss of key executives, a trend that continued into last week.
Last Wednesday, OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, who briefly served as interim CEO, announced that she would be stepping down after six and a half years. Shortly after, head of research Bob McGrew and vice president of research Barrett Zoff announced they were leaving the company.
In an interview with Italian Tech Week the following day, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “We hope this is a great transition for everyone involved. As we do with all transitions, OpenAI I hope we will be stronger for it.”
Also on Thursday, OpenAI held an all-hands meeting following the board’s decision to consider restructuring into a for-profit business, according to another person familiar with the matter. Altman said that contrary to some media reports, his resignation is not related to a possible restructuring.
If the change were to occur, the nonprofit sector would remain a separate entity, officials said.
At Thursday’s meeting, Mr. Altman denied reports that he planned to take a “significant stake” in the company, calling the information “absolutely untrue,” according to an attendee.
OpenAI Chairman Brett Taylor told CNBC in a statement last week that the board is discussing the matter, but no specific numbers have been considered.
“While the board has discussed whether compensating Sam in stock would be beneficial to the company and our mission, specific numbers have not been discussed and no decisions have been made,” Taylor said. ” he said.
The latest funding round also included participation from Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, MGX and Tiger Global, people told CNBC.
