OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is reportedly in talks to raise a significant amount of funding led by previous backer Thrive Capital at a valuation of over $100 billion, a significant increase over OpenAI's previous valuation of $86 billion and by far the highest valuation of any AI startup to date.
Thrive is reportedly planning to invest about $1 billion. Microsoft is also expected to participate, according to the WSJ, which reported the deal. It's unclear whether the company will also participate in the round. Khosla Ventures, Infosys and Y Combinator are among OpenAI's existing backers.
The funding is expected to be OpenAI's largest outside capital injection since Microsoft invested roughly $10 billion in January 2023.
OpenAI needs money. The company's annual revenue surpassed $3.4 billion earlier this year, according to the WSJ. But The Information reports that OpenAI is on track to lose nearly $5 billion by the end of the year and has already spent $8.5 billion on training and staffing its AI.