Although it already generates income, Openai still needs to raise funds to improve its AI models, and to ensure the operation of its services. And after lifting $ 6.6 billion, for a valuation of $ 157 billion, in October, the Chatgpt creator is already looking for new investments. According to an article by Bloomberg, which quotes sources close to the file, he is currently under discussion with investors to raise up to $ 40 billion.
The investment round would be carried out by the Japanese company Softbank which, according to a previous Bloomberg article, would be ready to inject up to $ 25 billion. And thanks to this new financing round, the valuation of Openai could reach 300 billion dollars, provided that the fundraising achieves its objectives.
New investments to compete with tech giants
In December, Openai had already mentioned her investment needs. “The hundreds of billions of dollars that large companies today invest in the development of AI show what will really take in Openai to continue to continue its mission”had written the company. And to attract more investment, it plans to modify its structure, by creating a form of American business called public Benefit Corporation which will issue ordinary actions (and therefore its non-profit branch will be part of the shareholders).
For the moment, rumors on the next OpenAi fundraising are to be considered with caution. Nevertheless, it is quite possible that the change of structure envisaged by the creator of Chatgpt has encouraged investors to inject more money. In addition, even if Deepseek has shown that it is possible to create a very efficient AI at a lower cost, Sam Altman indicated, in a publication on X, that investments in infrastructure remain necessary. “” “[…] We think it is more important than ever to have more computing power to carry out our mission. The world will want to use a lot of AI and will be really very surprised by the models of the next generation ”, he wrote.
- After the fundraising of October, the valuation of Openai reached $ 157 billion
- The company would already prepare a new lifting which could go up to $ 40 billion and bring its valuation to 300 billion dollars
- At the end of December, Openai announced its project to change structure to attract more investments
