Amid the rising fever of Ghibli Art introduced by ChatGPT, its creators, OpenAI, the world’s largest artificial intelligence (AI) company, have just secured a mammoth $40 billion in funding with SoftBank Group.
The US tech giant OpenAI announced the finalization of its first round of funding; it raised $40 billion from SoftBank Group Corp. and other investors. With this deal, OpenAI’s money valuation has increased to $300 billion.
As reported by Bloomberg, this funding round is the largest compared to the past rounds. Reports also stated that by the end of March, the firm was near to closing up the deal of $40 billion with SoftBank Group.
The advancement of OpenAI’s AI models is key to achieving AGI and ASI, and massive computing power is essential. To that end, SBG has announced the “Stargate Project” together with OpenAI on January 21, 2025, to build dedicated AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States. In alignment with this initiative, and to both further support OpenAI’s growth and capture the benefits of that growth in SBG’s NAV (Net Asset Value: calculated as equity value of holdings – adjusted net interest-bearing debt), SBG has decided to make follow-on investments in OpenAI,” read a statement from SoftBank Group.
OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, stated on Monday that “hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT each week. This investment helps us push the frontier and make AI more useful in everyday life.”
A person familiar with the company’s agreement has stated that in this deal, SoftBank will invest $7.5 billion in the company, including an investor syndicate that will invest $2.5 billion.
Further, the list of investors who will be investing in the company includes Microsoft Corp., Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital Management, and Thrive Capital.
The individual also stated that the investment’s second round for $30 billion would take place by the end of 2025. That will include $22.5 billion from SoftBank and $7.5 billion from a syndicate.
Also Read: Sam Altman: ChatGPT’s AI image tool is now free for all users
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