ChatGPT creator OpenAI pursues billion-dollar boost to fend off AI rivals
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, leads the AI chatbot market. To keep this spot, the company needs significant funding. Sources say a new financing round could value OpenAI at over $100 billion.
OpenAI, the AI startup behind ChatGPT, is in talks for a billion-dollar funding round. The round could value the company at more than $100 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm led by Josh Kushner, plans to invest around $1 billion and lead the round, the Wall Street Journal reports. Microsoft, which has already invested about $10 billion in OpenAI as of January 2023, is also expected to join the new financing round.
OpenAI must invest to stay ahead
The potential funding comes as competition in the AI industry intensifies. Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta Platforms are all developing their own AI products and investing heavily in this area. Meta’s latest Llama 3 model is free and matches GPT-4 in many areas.
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OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains the market leader with hundreds of millions of monthly users. But maintaining this position will require significant spending on research and development to stay at the forefront of AI technology. And competitors like Anthropic and Perplexity are catching up.
The rumors also show that OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft remains crucial for both companies, despite increasing competition and new partnerships. Microsoft currently holds a 49 percent share of OpenAI’s profits, but recently withdrew from the board and added the startup to its list of AI and search competitors.
