In the wave of artificial intelligence, OpenAI has once again become the focal point. This star startup in the AI field is on the verge of completing a funding round as high as $6.5 billion, with oversubscription occurring, indicating that investor enthusiasm for OpenAI far exceeds expectations.
It is reported that after this round of financing, OpenAI's valuation will reach an astonishing $150 billion, a significant increase compared to the pre-financing market capitalization of $86 billion. To ensure the smooth progress of the financing, existing investor Thrive Capital will lead this round, committing to invest $1.25 billion. Meanwhile, tech giants such as Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Apple have also shown strong interest and are actively seeking investment opportunities.
The success of this round of financing not only highlights OpenAI's leadership position in the AI field but also fills the market with optimism about the future of AI technology. Investors have noted that a $6.5 billion financing scale is extremely rare in the venture capital sector. Typically, investment companies inject small amounts of capital into startups, hoping for a return of 10 to 100 times. To achieve such a high return on investment in OpenAI, the market capitalization would need to surge to at least $1.5 trillion in the coming years, which is a significant challenge.
Despite this, investors remain full of confidence. A partner supporting OpenAI stated: "We are discussing how to build a trillion-dollar company, and it is entirely possible!" However, not all investors are optimistic about this round of financing. Rumors suggest that well-known investor Sequoia Capital is not participating in this round, possibly because they have recently invested in OpenAI's competitor Safe Superintelligence.
OpenAI's growth story is equally compelling. Initially, the company was a non-profit research project aimed at developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of all humanity. During early financing, OpenAI even limited the maximum return multiple for investors to 100 times. In 2019, OpenAI indicated that future return multiples might be reduced to encourage investors to promote research and development in a way that balances commercial, safety, and sustainability aspects.
As OpenAI rapidly commercializes through services like ChatGPT, the company has pushed its annual revenue to approximately $3.6 billion in the past two years, despite ongoing losses and annual burn exceeding $5 billion, with no profit-loss balance yet achieved. At this point, whether OpenAI's financing can help it stand out among competitors like Anthropic and Elon Musk's AI startup xAI becomes a critical issue.
This round of financing may prompt OpenAI to further consider removing the profit cap to provide more returns to investors. However, changing this rule requires approval from its non-profit board, which includes CEO Sam Altman, entrepreneur Bret Taylor, and others. Whether such a fundamental change in the company's structure will occur remains uncertain.
Additionally, OpenAI faces pressure from tech giants like Google and Meta. To achieve investment returns, OpenAI needs to continuously seek funds to train increasingly expensive AI models while also facing the challenge of transitioning from a startup to a corporate giant.
Despite external concerns about OpenAI's ability to maintain growth, the company continues to work hard to address various challenges. In November last year, OpenAI experienced a board crisis, with the future of CEO Sam Altman becoming a topic of discussion. This year, the company has also lost several senior researchers, and the situation is not ideal. Meanwhile, the relationship between OpenAI and its key investor Microsoft seems to have fluctuated. Although Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and closely linked its AI strategy to its success, competition for customers between the two companies has intensified.
Nevertheless, OpenAI's supporters argue that the challenges faced during this growth process are not uncommon among startups, and can even be compared to the early fluctuations of companies like Google and Apple. The risks are high, but few companies in history have established dual market leadership from the outset. In this winner-takes-all industry, competition is bound to be fierce.
It is foreseeable that OpenAI's partners and investors will play a crucial role in its future development. Support from strategic investors like Microsoft and Apple will provide OpenAI with strong resources and market channels. At the same time, OpenAI needs to maintain good relationships with these partners to achieve common goals. Although the future is filled with uncertainties, OpenAI's potential and influence in the AI field are undeniable. With continuous technological advancements, OpenAI is likely to continue leading the industry, bringing more innovations and breakthroughs.
