OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, raises $6.6 billion and is now worth $157 billion

OpenAI announced on Wednesday that it closed a capitalization round that allowed it to raise $6.6 billion, a figure that values ​​it at $157 billion.

The creator of ChatGPT thus establishes himself as one of the star values ​​of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

“Every week, more than 250 million people around the world use ChatGPT to improve their work, creativity and education,” the company said in a brief statement.

Several names of potential interested parties in entering the capital of the firm have been circulating in the American press for weeks, among them Microsoft, which has already contributed 13 billion dollars to the start-up, and the giant Nvidia, another leader of the AI ​​boom. thanks to its high-performance chips.

Thrive Capital led the round, which included SoftBank, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tiger Global, and MGX, an investment firm controlled by the United Arab Emirates.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple, which already uses OpenAI models in its new AI system, recently withdrew from negotiations to participate in the company’s financing.

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI imposed an exclusivity condition for investors, who will not be able to invest in rival startups.

Boom

OpenAI started the AI ​​boom at the end of 2022 with its ChatGPT interface, which allows you to obtain answers or develop materials through a request in common language.

Since then, Microsoft, Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), and all the large technology groups compete in this rapidly developing sector.

With this round of capital, OpenAI is one of the three largest unlisted startups in the world, according to Bloomberg, along with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space exploration group, and the Chinese entertainment giant ByteDance, owner from TikTok.

Founded in 2015 by Sam Altman, OpenAI plans to use the funding to increase its AI research, increase its computing power, and develop tools to solve complex problems.

OpenAI expects to maintain rapid growth, despite the significant costs of increasing its computing power and recruiting talent.

The company increased its workforce from 700 to 1,700 employees in nine months and projects losses of about $5 billion in 2024, with sales of about $3.7 billion, according to The New York Times.

Since its creation, OpenAI was a non-profit entity, with a board of directors that does not respond to investors and a commercial subsidiary that operates separately.

The firm faces a lawsuit from Elon Musk, one of the original investors in the project, who claims that it deviated from its initial mission since he left the firm in 2018.