Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI is in advanced talks with investors to secure $6.5 billion in funding, which would raise its valuation to $150 billion.
According to a Sept. 11 Bloomberg report citing sources familiar with the matter, the new valuation does not include the money being raised. The startup is also seeking an additional $5 billion in debt from banks in the form of a revolving credit facility — a flexible line of credit that would allow OpenAI to draw, repay, and redraw funds as needed.
The new figure is well above the $86 billion valuation from the company’s tender offer in February.
Investment firm Thrive Capital is leading the round with $1 billion in funding, according to a previous report from The Wall Street Journal. Tech giants such as chipmaker Nvidia and Apple are among the investors interested in backing the AI startup.
Microsoft is also participating in the round. The tech conglomerate has invested $13 billion in OpenAI since 2019 and already owns 49% of it. The sums that Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft will invest remain unknown.
Related: OpenAI to release ‘Strawberry’ reasoning for ChatGPT in coming weeks
The company has been working to increase its revenue. As of May, its annualized sales were roughly $3.4 billion. However, it continues to grow in terms of the number of users paying for its services. According to Reuters, OpenAI has surpassed 1 million users across ChatGPT Enterprise, Teams, and Edu, marking a 67% increase since April.
To build on this growth, the startup plans to introduce more expensive premium subscription models, which could cost as much as $2,000 per month for its upcoming large language models, Strawberry and Orion.
The race for AI development continues to push startups to raise billions of dollars. On Sept. 4, former chief scientist at OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, secured $1 billion for a new AI startup dubbed Safe Superintelligence. The startup intends to develop AI systems that are not only highly intelligent but also safe. Investors backing the initiative include a16z, Sequoia, DST Global, NFDG, and SV Angel.
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