OpenAI has raised $6.6 billion from top investors, including Microsoft and Nvidia, boosting its valuation to $157 billion. Despite personnel changes, the AI company is targeting significant growth, with projections of $11.6 billion in revenue next year, and continues its pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI)
The $6.6 billion raise is one of the largest private investments ever and puts OpenAI among the top three largest startups with venture backing, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and ByteDance, which owns TikTok, are the other two.
The funding round was led by Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm headed up by Josh Kushner, which put in $1.3 billion. Microsoft Corp., OpenAI’s largest backer, put in about $750 million, on top of the $13 billion it had already invested in the startup, according to a person familiar with the matter. Other investors included Khosla Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Nvidia Corp., the chipmaker whose powerful processors are at the center of the AI boom. Microsoft declined to comment.
The company’s valuation soared from $14 billion in 2021 to $157 billion, with revenue growing from zero to $3.6 billion, surpassing Altman’s initial projections. According to Bloomberg, investors in the new round can reclaim their investment if OpenAI doesn’t complete its conversion to a for-profit entity within two years.
OpenAI expects to close this year with $3.6 billion in revenue, despite substantial losses of over $5 billion. Projections for 2025 predict an even steeper revenue rise to $11.6 billion.
