OpenAI, a prominent AI research and development company, recently announced that it has secured a massive $6.6 billion in funding, boosting its valuation to an impressive $157 billion. This funding round was led by Thrive Capital, with reinvestments from major players such as Microsoft and Khosla Ventures, along with new participation from Nvidia.
The company, best known for its widely used AI platform ChatGPT, which has garnered over 250 million weekly users, plans to utilize this funding to further expand its research initiatives, increase its computational capacity, and create new tools aimed at solving complex problems across various industries. This significant infusion of capital will undoubtedly solidify OpenAI’s position as a frontrunner in cutting-edge AI research while also making advanced intelligence more accessible to the public.
Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures, had initially invested in OpenAI back in 2019, demonstrating his continued support and confidence in the company’s vision and capabilities. OpenAI expressed its gratitude to its investors for their trust and emphasized its commitment to collaborating with key partners, developers, and the broader community to shape an AI-powered ecosystem that benefits everyone.
Despite Apple’s reported interest in participating in the funding round, the tech giant ultimately decided to withdraw from the investment opportunity. However, this did not deter the momentum of the funding round, which ultimately saw the enthusiastic backing of Thrive Capital and other key investors.
Founded by Sam Altman in 2015, OpenAI has quickly risen to become the second-highest-valued startup, trailing closely behind ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. With a total of $17.9 billion raised in funding over 9 rounds, OpenAI has consistently attracted significant investment interest due to its groundbreaking research and innovative AI solutions.
Prior to this latest funding round, Microsoft held a 49% stake in the company, with other stakeholders also owning 49% of the shares. This new injection of capital is expected to further accelerate OpenAI’s growth trajectory, enabling it to continue pushing the boundaries of AI research and development while striving to make advanced intelligence more accessible and beneficial to society as a whole.