Now, OpenAI is becoming a for-profit company, making a sizable profit in the process. The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI has raised $6.6 billion in new funding from investors, nearly doubling its value to $157 billion. The new funding makes this the largest venture capital deal in history.
New investors pounced on the artificial intelligence startup as it planned to transform from a charitable nonprofit to a for-profit, product-focused company. Axios said investors have the right to withdraw their funds if OpenAI fails to become a commercial company.
Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, the youngest son of convicted and later pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner, led a new $1.25 billion funding round. . Other investors included SoftBank, Nvidia, Fidelity Management, and OpenAI’s previous largest investor, Microsoft.
One name conspicuously absent from the investor list is Apple. The tech giant was negotiating a funding deal, but it appears the deal has fallen through.
OpenAI isn’t just growing with money. The company’s AI app, ChatGPT, has 250 million weekly active users, exceeding the 200 million announced at the end of August, and has 11 million paid members. Due to increased usage, OpenAI officials believe ChatGPT’s subscription price should increase to $22 per month by the end of the year and $44 per month over the next five years.
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