OpenAI Completes Deal That Values Company at $300 Billion
The New York Times
The start-up’s valuation, which has nearly doubled in six months, shows continued enthusiasm for A.I. among investors.
OpenAI said on Monday that it had completed a $40 billion fund-raising deal that nearly doubles the high-profile company’s valuation from just six months ago.
The new fund-raising round, led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, values OpenAI at $300 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world, along with the rocket company SpaceX and ByteDance, the maker of TikTok.
OpenAI started the artificial intelligence boom in late 2022 with the release of its online chatbot, ChatGPT. Its latest investment round indicates that the tech industry’s excitement over A.I. remains strong, even amid concerns about the effectiveness and safety of the rapidly improving technology.
“This investment helps us push the frontier and make A.I. more useful in everyday life,” Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, said in a statement to The New York Times.
The company also said that 500 million people are actively using ChatGPT each week — up from 400 million in late February — and that 20 million people are paying to use more advanced versions of the chatbot.
The new investment will be made in two parts, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity. An initial $10 billion will arrive immediately, with another $30 billion arriving by the end of the year, the person said.
