OpenAI just raised $6.6 billion to build ever-larger AI models

OpenAI just completed a historic round of funding, accepting an investment of $6.6 billion at a valuation of $157 billion to continue its mission of building artificial general intelligence by entry on the company blog.

The financing round was led by Thrive Capital, which contributed an estimated $1 billion Financial Times.. It was also reported that Thrive had obtained a special offer (not offered to other investors) that allows it to invest another $1 billion next year at the same valuation if the artificial intelligence company reaches its revenue target. Reuters reported.

These funds are apparently contingent on OpenAI carrying out a rumored restructuring as a for-profit company. The for-profit wing of the company is now overseen by a nonprofit research institution, and investors’ returns are capped at 100 times. If OpenAI does not restructure itself as a for-profit company within two years, Axles reportedinvestors can ask for their money back. Last week Reuters reported that the company is considering transforming into a public benefit company (like Anthropic).

In a uncommon move, OpenAI also asked investors to avoid backing rival startups such as Elon Musk’s Anthropic and xAI. Financial Times. reported. It’s worth noting that OpenAI’s latest round of funding barely outperforms xAI, which raised $6 billion in May.

In this round of funding, OpenAI is valued at approximately 40 times reported revenuesan unprecedented number that underscores just how large the buzz around AI is in Silicon Valley. New York Times reported that OpenAI’s monthly revenue hit $300 million in August, and the company expects annual sales of about $3.7 billion this year (and estimates its revenue will reach $11.6 billion next year).