OpenAI announced this Wednesday that it has closed the new round of financing that it had been negotiating for months and that had caused a schism within the organization. The ChatGPT developer has raised $6.6 billion in what becomes the largest venture capital investment deal in history. According to the agreement, its partners value OpenAI at $157 billion (about €142 billion).
The organization needed a new injection of capital after accumulating losses of about $5 billion this year alone and failing to achieve a profitable business model. “The new funds will allow us to redouble our leadership in cutting-edge artificial intelligence research, increase computing capacity and continue creating tools that help people solve difficult problems,” OpenAI said. “By collaborating with key partners, including the governments of the United States and its allies, we can realize the full potential of this technology,” he added.
The creator of ChatGPT got a $10 billion injection from Microsoft in 2023, but it was a corporate agreement that included credits to use the multinational’s data centers and its cloud computing capacity, not just cash. Microsoft, as well as Nvidia and SoftBank, have also participated in this round, as confirmed by these companies in recent days.
As revealed by Axios, the agreement includes the definitive conversion of OpenAI into a private company. The organization, which was born as a non-profit laboratory to develop open source artificial intelligence and help understand this technology, will have to return the money to investors if it does not complete the process within two years. However, this would already be very advanced, as revealed by the resignations of many of the founders and directors of OpenAI since the summer.
Sam Altman, the company’s CEO, is the last member of the founding team remaining in its leadership. The clashes between those in favor of the organization remaining faithful to its initial mission as a laboratory and Altman led to his dismissal in November 2023. However, a mutiny of investors and employees, in which Microsoft itself mediated, He returned his position days later.
“We are advancing our mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity,” OpenAI insisted in its statement: “Our goal is to make advanced intelligence a widely accessible resource. “We thank our investors for their trust in us and look forward to working with our partners, developers and the broader community to shape an AI-powered ecosystem and future that benefits everyone.”
Source: www.eldiario.es
