OpenAI Raises $6.6 Billion, At $157 Billion Valuation
OpenAI’s user base has exploded to 250 million weekly active users, and the company is pursuing ambitious goals in developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), which aims to surpass human intelligence.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has closed the largest venture capital funding round in history, raising $6.6 billion. This brings the company's total funding to $17.9 billion and values it at $157 billion. The round was led by Thrive Capital, with contributions from Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, and others.
The new funds will help OpenAI expand its leadership in AI research, increase computing capacity, and build tools to solve complex global problems. OpenAI also hinted at unusual investment terms, asking investors not to back rival AI startups like Anthropic and xAI.
The funding will support OpenAI’s massive operations. The company has reportedly spent $7 billion on training models and $1.5 billion on staff, with its GPT-4 model alone costing over $100 million to train. Running ChatGPT costs OpenAI around $700,000 per day, and the platform now has 250 million users, 10 million of whom are paying subscribers.
The company is expected to generate $3.6 billion in revenue this year and aims to reach $11.6 billion in 2024. This funding round also allows employees to sell shares and provides investors with options for future investments, with Thrive Capital committing another $1 billion if revenue targets are met.
