Talks to Raise New Funding at $100 Billion Valuation are Ahead for ChatGPT Maker OpenAI

According to persons with knowledge of the topic, OpenAI is in early talks to seek a new round of investment at a value of at least $100 billion. If successful, this would establish the company as one of the most valuable businesses in the world, along with ChatGPT. The persons who requested not to be named in order to discuss private affairs said that investors who could be engaged in the fundraising round had been invited in preliminary negotiations. According to the persons, many aspects of the investment round, such as the conditions, value, and timing, have not yet been decided upon and may potentially change.

Based on statistics from CBInsights, if the investment round proceeds as expected, Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies would be the most valued company in the US, surpassing the artificial intelligence darling.

According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the business is scheduled to conclude a secondary tender offer in early January, enabling its workers to sell their shares at a price of $86 billion. Thrive Capital is leading that, and according to sources with knowledge of the situation, there was a higher demand from investors than there was supply.

Apple is reportedly looking at AI deals with news publishers. Here’s why. OpenAI’s skyrocketing value is reminiscent of the AI craze it started a year ago with the release of ChatGPT, a chatbot that can create amazingly human-sounding words and even poetry when given basic instructions. Within a few months, the business transformed the tech industry landscape by becoming Silicon Valley’s hottest startup and receiving $13 billion to date from Microsoft. This led to a renewed respect for the potential of artificial intelligence.

Since then, billions have been invested by Alphabet and Amazon.com in OpenAI competitor Anthropic. Hugging Face was valued at $4.5 billion when it was acquired by Salesforce. Earlier this month, Nvidia, a manufacturer of many of the transistors used in AI operations, said that it had made more than two dozen investments in 2023.

According to persons with knowledge of the situation, OpenAI has also had negotiations with G42, located in Abu Dhabi, to seek money for a new chip business.

Only if its newest technology is deemed safe will OpenAI deploy it.
Those who sought anonymity to discuss sensitive material indicated that the firm has spoken about funding between $8 billion and $10 billion from G42. It’s unclear how the company’s broader finance efforts and the chips endeavor are connected.

Sam Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI, has been looking for funding for the Tigris chip project. As Bloomberg News reported last month, the objective is to create semiconductors that can rival those made by Nvidia, which now controls the majority of the AI chip industry.

G42 and OpenAI announced their collaboration in October with the goal of “delivering cutting-edge AI solutions to the UAE and regional markets.” There were no financial data given. The national security adviser and leader of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is in charge of the 2018-founded company.

After Altman was abruptly sacked by OpenAI’s board earlier this month, the company’s future was momentarily unclear. Several investors thought about writing down their interests to zero at the moment. However, after five days of turmoil in the leadership, Altman was reinstated and a new board was appointed. The firm wants to convey to its clientele that, in the wake of the disruption, it is focused on its goods.