Artificial intelligence is the hottest investment right now and one of the leading players in the space has just secured new investment to almost double its valuation.
OpenAI’s backers in its latest round of funding include Josh Kushner’s venture capital firm Thrive Capital with $1.3 billion, Nvidia, Fidelity Management & Research, and Khosla Ventures. There was also a further $750 million from OpenAI’s largest corporate investor Microsoft which has previously invested $13 billion.
The new round of fundraising, totaling $6.6 billion, boosts OpenAI’s market valuation to $157 billion, almost double the previous valuation, and is one of the largest-ever private investments, just short of the $7 billion invested in Tesla in a round led by Elon Musk in 2018 who had tweeted about taking the firm private.
OpenAI says the funding will help to “accelerate progress on our mission” to scale the benefits of AI and “continue building tools that help people solve hard problems.”
“AI is already personalizing learning, accelerating health care breakthroughs and driving productivity,” OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told Bloomberg. “And this is just the start.”
The boom in AI has been a key part of the strong equities market in recent times and is also boosting some more traditional industries such as energy. The high power demand from AI platforms has prompted advisors to consider a ‘power play’ and using investment in power generators and others as another way to reap rewards from the AI revolution.
Despite its partnership with the AI firm, Bloomberg sources familiar with the fundraising deal say that Apple is not one of the investors, despite having previously been in talks to do so.
OpenAI has seen some turbulence in the last year, including the firing and re-hiring of its chief executive officer Sam Altman. Altman is also at the center of a potential pivot of the firm from its non-profit structure in a move that could hand its chief an equity stake worth more than $10 billion.
Rajesh Markan earlier this year pleaded guilty to one count of criminal fraud related to his sale of fake investments to 10 clients totaling $2.9 million.
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