OpenAI announced it has raised USD 6.6 billion in new funding at a valuation of USD 157 billion to accelerate progress in AI research and expansion. "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 ChatGPT maker said in a Wednesday announcement.
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Major Investors Backing OpenAI
While OpenAI did not disclose the investors in its press release, a source familiar with the matter said the round was led by Thrive Capital and included participation from existing investor Microsoft, as well as chipmaker Nvidia, SoftBank, and others, according to a CNBC report.
The company expects to generate USD 11.6 billion in revenue next year, up from USD 3.7 billion in 2024, according to a source close to OpenAI, who requested anonymity due to the confidentiality of the financial details, the report added.
ChatGPT's Growing User Base
"Every week, over 250 million people around the world use ChatGPT to enhance their work, creativity, and learning. Across industries, businesses are improving productivity and operations, and developers are leveraging our platform to create a new generation of applications. And we're only getting started," OpenAI said in its official release.
"There are also 11 million ChatGPT Plus subscribers and 1 million paying business users on ChatGPT," a person close to the company was quoted as saying in the report.
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Role in Healthcare, Education, and Productivity
"AI is already personalising learning, accelerating healthcare breakthroughs, and driving productivity," CFO Sarah Friar was quoted in the report.
OpenAI says it can unlock the technology's full potential by collaborating with key partners, including the US and allied governments.
