ChatGPT Creator OpenAI Just Closed the Largest Private Tech Deal Ever, Raising $40 Billion: ‘Make AI More Useful in Everyday Life’
OpenAI is now valued at $300 billion, joining the ranks of the most valuable private companies in the world.
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI stated on Monday that it had raised $40 billion in its latest fundraising round at a $300 billion valuation.
- The company also reported that ChatGPT now has 500 million weekly users, up from 400 million in February.
OpenAI just closed a record-breaking fundraising round.
On Monday, the ChatGPT-maker that it had raised $40 billion, with Japan’s SoftBank contributing $30 billion and investors like Microsoft and Thrive investing the rest, at a $300 billion valuation. It’s the biggest tech funding round on record from a private company, .
OpenAI says it will use the funds to power AI research, buy AI chips and infrastructure, and create AI tools for ChatGPT’s now 500 million global weekly users. OpenAI last reported for ChatGPT in February.
About $18 billion of the funding will go towards Stargate, a joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle announced in January to build AI data centers in the U.S.
Related: ChatGPT Can Now Complete a Major Task That Would Take a Human Up to 30 Days. Here’s How it Works.
“Hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT each week,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement on Monday, per . “This investment helps us push the frontier and make AI more useful in everyday life.”
OpenAI will receive $10 billion right away and $30 billion by the end of the year. However, there’s fine print to the deal: To receive the $30 billion, OpenAI has to transition to become a for-profit company by the end of the year, per . OpenAI currently consists of a nonprofit parent company and a for-profit arm, with the nonprofit board of OpenAI’s activities.
In December, the startup to spin off its for-profit business into a Delaware-based corporation that runs and controls its business and operations. According to , both OpenAI’s largest shareholder, Microsoft, and the California attorney general need to approve of the plan and have yet to do so.
The fundraising round nearly doubles OpenAI’s valuation from its previous peak of in October after a $6.6 billion fundraising round. Now, OpenAI is among the most valuable private companies in the world, joining the ranks of startups like SpaceX, valued at in December, and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, worth in November.
Related: Is ChatGPT Search Better Than Google? I Tried the New Search Engine to Find Out.
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI stated on Monday that it had raised $40 billion in its latest fundraising round at a $300 billion valuation.
- The company also reported that ChatGPT now has 500 million weekly users, up from 400 million in February.
OpenAI just closed a record-breaking fundraising round.
On Monday, the ChatGPT-maker that it had raised $40 billion, with Japan’s SoftBank contributing $30 billion and investors like Microsoft and Thrive investing the rest, at a $300 billion valuation. It’s the biggest tech funding round on record from a private company, .
OpenAI says it will use the funds to power AI research, buy AI chips and infrastructure, and create AI tools for ChatGPT’s now 500 million global weekly users. OpenAI last reported for ChatGPT in February.
