OpenAI is set to raise up to $40 billion in a significant funding round led by SoftBank Group, which will value the company at $300 billion, nearly doubling its previous valuation. SoftBank has committed to providing $10 billion in mid-April, with an additional $30 billion planned for December, contingent upon OpenAI's transition to a for-profit structure by year-end. The funding will be used to advance research, expand computational infrastructure, and enhance AI tools, aiming to deliver powerful capabilities to the 500 million weekly ChatGPT users. This investment comes amid growing enthusiasm for AI technologies, with OpenAI joining the ranks of the world's most valuable private companies alongside SpaceX, ByteDance, and Stripe.
As part of its growth strategy, OpenAI plans to establish a public benefit corporation structure to attract further investment while balancing shareholder interests with public benefits. The company is also partnering with SoftBank and Oracle on the $500 billion Stargate project to create a network of data centers for AI workloads across the U.S. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's $97.4 billion takeover attempt of OpenAI was rejected, highlighting the ongoing conflict between Musk and OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman. Musk's AI company, xAI, has since unveiled Grok-3, a chatbot platform upgrade designed to compete with ChatGPT.
Key takeaways:
OpenAI is set to raise up to $40 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank, valuing the company at $300 billion.
The funding is contingent on OpenAI transitioning to a for-profit structure by the end of the year.
The capital will be used to advance research, expand infrastructure, and enhance AI tools for its 500 million weekly ChatGPT users.
OpenAI plans to establish a public benefit corporation structure to balance shareholder interests with public benefits.
