OpenAI has raised $6.6bn (£5bn) in a funding round that values the artificial intelligence business at $157bn, with chipmaker Nvidia and Japanese group SoftBank among its investors.
The San Francisco-based startup behind the ChatGPT chatbot did not provide details of a restructuring that will transform it into a for-profit company. The funding round was led by Thrive Capital, a US venture capital fund, and other backers include MGX, an Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm.
OpenAI’s post-fundraise valuation puts it on par with Uber, although it remains well below the $3 trillion level of its biggest backer in recent years, Microsoft, which also joined the fundraising .
Other investors included Nvidia, a dominant player in the market for chips that train and operate AI models, and Softbank, which counts British chip designer Arm among its investments.
Sarah Friar, CFO of OpenAI, highlighted the popularity of ChatGPT, with more than 250 million weekly active users.
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“Every week, more than 250 million people turn to ChatGPT regardless of the magnitude of the challenge, whether it’s communicating with someone who speaks another language or solving the most difficult research problems. AI is already personalizing learning, accelerating advancements in healthcare, and boosting productivity. And this is just the beginning,” he said.
OpenAI, which is reportedly headed for a $5 billion loss this year, said the fundraising would allow it to “double down” on cutting-edge AI research and increase its “computing capacity,” one of the main cost factors in construction and operation. Powerful AI models.
The startup did not provide an update on a discussed corporate restructuring that could mean it loses its nonprofit status and becomes a fully for-profit entity. OpenAI is run by a nonprofit board, but has a for-profit subsidiary, of which Microsoft is the largest backer, with limited returns for investors and employees. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, could also reportedly receive a stake in the restructured company.
Last week, a former OpenAI employee, William Saunders, said he was concerned that the restructuring could encourage the AI startup to take shortcuts on security.
OpenAI letter commits the company to building general artificial intelligence, which it describes as “systems that are generally smarter than humans,” that benefits “all of humanity.”