OpenAI in talks to raise funds at £115bn valuation – reports

OpenAI is in talks with investors to raise 6.5 billion dollars (£5 billion) at a valuation of 150 billion dollars (£115 billion), making it one of the most valuable start-ups in the world, it has been reported.

According to Bloomberg, the maker of AI assistant ChatGPT is also in talks over raising 5 billion dollars (£3.8 billion) in debt from banks in the form of a revolving credit facility.

The reported valuation is substantially higher than the 86 billion dollars (£65.9 billion) the company fetched in a tender offer earlier this year, highlighting the continuing frenzy around generative AI companies and technology, which was sparked by the release of ChatGPT almost two years ago.

The easy-to-use generative AI chatbot immediately caught the attention of consumers and Silicon Valley investors, and has propelled the company to the centre of the tech industry.

Since then, OpenAI has been heavily backed by Microsoft and gone into partnership with Apple to build ChatGPT into the latest generation of iPhones, and many of the world’s other largest tech companies have moved into the generative AI space.

According to Bloomberg’s report, Thrive Capital is leading the funding, while Apple and AI chip giant Nvidia have reportedly also been in talks about investing.

The report said OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar told staff in a memo last month that new financing would help the firm pay for more computing power and other operating expenses.