OpenAI has reportedly raised $6.6 billion in new funding, nearly doubling its valuation.
The artificial intelligence (AI) startup is now valued at $157 billion, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday (Oct. 7), noting that this figure puts the company in the same market capitalization territory of the likes of Uber, AT&T and Goldman Sachs.
OpenAI was last valued at $86 billion early in the year after its employees sold their shares. According to WSJ, investors in this round will get the right to pull their money if OpenAI doesn’t carry out its planned switch from a nonprofit to for-profit company.
The round was headed by venture-capital firm Thrive Capital, which invested $1.25 billion, sources told WSJ. Longtime OpenAI partner/investor Microsoft contributed a little under $1 billion, while SoftBank put in around $500 million, and AI chip maker Nvidia, which invested about $100 million, one of the sources said.
The sources told WSJ that investors who wanted to review OpenAI’s financial documents were required to contribute at least $250 million.
Writing about the company’s shift from nonprofit to for-profit last week, PYMNTS noted that the pivot is reshaping the AI landscape and bringing up questions about the future of AI innovation, market competition and tech sector partnerships.
“The potential shift comes at a crucial time when AI technology is becoming integrated into consumer products and enterprise solutions,” PYMNTS wrote. “OpenAI’s new business approach will likely have significant implications for its relationships with key stakeholders, notably Apple and Microsoft, while also affecting its standing among potential rivals.”
Industry experts argued this move could usher in tighter collaborations and deeper integrations with major platforms.
“Already, deep integrations exist in place, while a new spotlight by OpenAI might directly align their capabilities further with these platforms,” John Russo, VP of healthcare solutions at OSP, told PYMNTS. “That would mean tighter collaboration in the expansion of AI applications across their ecosystems.”
But this alignment may also present obstacles, particularly with companies known for stringent privacy policies. For example, Russo noted that Apple “may want strategic changes in the model to fit their strict guidelines.”
The recent partnership between OpenAI and the iPhone maker is especially notable in light of the startups move to a for-profit model.
“Its partnership with Apple, particularly integrating ChatGPT into iOS 18, is a game-changer, giving OpenAI unprecedented access to the consumer market,” Kaveh Vahdat, founder and CEO of RiseAngle, a generative AI game creation company, said in an interview with PYMNTS.
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