OpenAI raises US$300 million to reach US$29 billion valuation

OpenAI, parent company of ChatGPT and DALL-E, recently closed a $300 million raise. 

This funding round, which includes participation from Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive and K2 Global, brings OpenAI’s valuation to between $27 billion and $29 billion.

TechCrunch reports that this round is separate from a January 2023 undisclosed funding round with Microsoft. At the time, Microsoft announced that it was extending its partnership with OpenAI and investing billions more in the AI company. Sources at TechCrunch, however, noted that Microsoft’s investment was worth $10 billion.

At this stage, neither investors nor OpenAI have commented on the latest funding event or what OpenAI will use it for.

Already, OpenAI’s products have gained popularity with users across the world with its ChatGPT reaching 100 million users within four months of launch. OpenAI’s success has also spurred other tech companies to incorporate AI into their systems. Examples include Google’s Bard, Canva Magic, and even Dropbox which recently laid off 16% of its staff, in a pivot to AI.