OpenAI raises $6.6B and is now valued at $157B

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has closed the largest VC round of all time.

The startup today announced that it raised $6.6 billion in a funding round that values OpenAI at $157 billion post-money. Led by previous investor Thrive Capital, the new cash brings OpenAI’s total raised to $17.9 billion, per Crunchbase.

Thrive invested around $1.3 billion, per The New York Times, with an exclusive option to invest up to $1 billion more at the same valuation (through 2025). Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, and MGX also participated in the fundraising.

Microsoft reportedly invested a little less than $1 billion, while Nvidia pledged $100 million and SoftBank put in $500 million, reports The Wall Street Journal.

“The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We’re grateful to our investors for their trust in us, and we look forward to working with our partners, developers, and the broader community to shape an AI-powered ecosystem and future that benefits everyone.”

There may be unusual strings attached. This morning, the Financial Times reported that OpenAI asked investors to avoid backing rival startups such as Anthropic and xAI. We’ve reached out to the company for more information and will update this post when we hear back.

OpenAI was already the world’s best-funded AI startup. But the mammoth new tranche puts the San Francisco company in a category all its own.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/02/openai-raises-6-6b-and-is-now-valued-at-157b/