OpenAI Sees Its Valuation Explode

OpenAI's latest funding round has pulled in $6.6 billion, putting the current value of the company behind ChatGPT at $157 billion; that's up from $86 billion earlier this year. What you need to know:

• What just happened: The Wall Street Journal describes the latest round as a "complex fundraising process that involved negotiations with multiple tech giants and overseas investors as well as renewed scrutiny of the company's internal turmoil."
• Among giants: The latest valuation puts the company in the same financial categories as giants like AT&T, Uber, and Goldman Sachs. (The Guardian notes it's still miles behind major backer Microsoft, which is worth $3 trillion.)
• Investors: Sources tell the Journal that major investors included Microsoft, Japan's Softbank, Nvidia, the UAE-backed MGX, and Thrive Capital, the VC firm that led the funding round. Apple reportedly considered an investment, but did not move forward.
• The asterisk: OpenAI is planning to convert to a for-profit company. Should that not happen, the new investors can yank their funds.

• Quote: "The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems," OpenAI wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
• Its financials: CNBC reports OpenAI saw $300 million in revenue in September and, per a source, expects 2025 sales of $11.6 billion; that would be more than triple its 2024 revenue. The source says the company expects to lose $5 billion this year.

(More OpenAI stories.)