OpenAI could reach a massive valuation of up to $90 billion if it successfully completes its latest funding raising rounds that involve selling more shares to investors. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the deal capable of making OpenAI valued at between $80 and $90 billion, would make it one of the world’s most valuable private companies.
OpenAI, a private research laboratory founded in 2015 by individuals like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, is headquartered in San Francisco. It was established with a mission to develop and steer artificial intelligence (AI) for the benefit of humanity. This initiative arose from concerns about the potential risks associated with general-purpose AI.
OpenAI operates as both a for-profit entity, OpenAI LP, and a non-profit organization, OpenAI Inc. Their primary objective is to advance digital intelligence in ways that prioritize the well-being of humanity over shareholder interests.
Some key aspects of OpenAI include its research efforts focused on “safe and beneficial” artificial general intelligence. They offer an API platform for accessing their latest AI models and safety guidelines.
Notable language models developed by OpenAI include GPT, ChatGPT, and OpenAI Codex. ChatGPT, a chatbot that can generate human-like responses based on user prompts, has helped AI’s popularity erupt.
$300 million share, $30 billion valuation in Q2 2023
The AI company first sold $300 million worth of its shares at a valuation between $27 billion and $29 billion in Q2 2023 with the likes of Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, and K2 Global taking part in the offering. OpenAi has seen a surge in value from around $14 billion in 2021 to about $30 billion today.
Microsoft has been a major investor in the firm since 2019 when it started with $1 billion and proceeded with more in 2021 and in January 2023, it added $10 billion. This totals its investment to $13 billion.
Aside from OpenAI, other AI startups have been making the news with the recent being Anthropic which got $4 billion from Amazon. Another is NVIDIA which saw its valuation rise to $1 billion within a year.
The race to dominance in the industry which is projected to hit $1.8 trillion by 2030 is already on.
