OpenAI, a high-profile artificial intelligence company, announced on Monday that it had completed a $40 billion fund-raising deal led by SoftBank, nearly doubling its valuation to $300 billion. This makes OpenAI one of the most valuable private companies, alongside SpaceX and ByteDance.
The company gained traction with the release of its online chatbot, ChatGPT, in late 2022, and its latest investment round highlights the tech industry’s continued excitement over A.I. technologies. CEO Sam Altman emphasized that the investment will help advance the usefulness of A.I. in everyday life.
The $40 billion investment will be made in two parts, with SoftBank providing 75% of the total, and the remaining amount coming from other investors including Microsoft, Thrive Capital, Coatue, and Altimeter. Altman, alongside Elon Musk, founded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, later attaching it to a for-profit company to raise sufficient funds for A.I. development. Plans are underway to shift control of the company to a public benefit corporation to emphasize social and public good.
However, complications arose when Musk sued OpenAI and Altman, alleging that commercial interests were prioritized over the public good. Musk’s bid to buy the assets of the controlling nonprofit for over $97 billion adds another layer of complexity to the company’s restructuring efforts. Despite these challenges, OpenAI continues to innovate in the A.I. space, with millions of people actively using ChatGPT each week.
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