OpenAI is closing in on an $850 billion valuation as it finalizes a new $10 billion venture‑capital raise.
The funding, expected to wrap up next week, would lift the total amount raised by the company in the current round to about $120 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Andreeseen Horowitz, MGX, D.E. Shaw Ventures, TPG and T. Rowe Price are co-leading the financing for OpenAI's latest funding round, CNBC reported, citing OpenAI’s Chief Finance Officer Sarah Friar. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is also participating in the deal, according to the outlet. Coatue Management, Thrive Capital and Altimeter Capital are also part of the funding round, according to Bloomberg.
OpenAI's latest raise marks a dramatic escalation in a funding journey that began far more modestly. The company started in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab backed by roughly $1 billion in commitments from early supporters like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Reid Hoffman.
Big Money, Bigger Moves Ahead
Its shift to a "capped‑profit" structure in 2019 opened the door to outside investment, leading to Microsoft's multibillion‑dollar partnership and a series of increasingly large rounds that transformed OpenAI into one of the most heavily funded startups in history. The new deal pushing its valuation toward $850 billion represents the most aggressive step yet in that evolution.
OpenAI said this week that it would discontinue its Sora video platform, just a few months after its launch. The app is being shut down to allow the company to focus on other priorities, it told CNN.
The artificial intelligence company is also offering a compelling proposition to private equity firms, presenting a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% as it seeks to establish joint ventures aimed at expanding enterprise AI adoption.
This move comes as OpenAI competes with Anthropic, which has not offered similar returns, to secure partnerships with buyout firms, according to a Reuters report.
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