OpenAI, a high-profile artificial intelligence company, is set to raise $40 billion in funding, nearly doubling its valuation from just four months ago. The funding round is led by SoftBank, a Japanese conglomerate, and values OpenAI at $300 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Other investors will provide a quarter of the total funds.
Despite a recent dip in U.S. financial markets, investors remain optimistic about AI market leaders like OpenAI. This comes after a Chinese company, DeepSeek, unveiled rival technology in December, claiming to have built a powerful AI system with significantly fewer computer chips and at a lower cost than companies like OpenAI. However, many in the industry believe that companies with access to greater computing power will continue to lead the market.
In response to the competition, OpenAI and SoftBank, along with Oracle, announced a $100 billion investment to build new computer data centers in the United States for AI development. President Trump endorsed the deal shortly after taking office.
It is worth noting that The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement related to news content on AI systems. Both companies have denied the claims made in the lawsuit.
Source
Note: The image is for illustrative purposes only and is not the original image of the presented article.
