OpenAI in Talks for Funding Round Valuing It Above $100 Billion (msn.com) 17
OpenAI is in talks to raise several billion dollars in a new funding round that would value the startup behind ChatGPT above $100 billion, WSJ reported Wednesday, citing sources. From the report: Venture-capital firm Thrive Capital is leading the round and will invest about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Microsoft is also expected to put in money. The new funding round would be the biggest infusion of outside capital into OpenAI since Microsoft invested around $10 billion in January 2023.
Since then, an arms race has developed in Silicon Valley to build the most advanced artificial-intelligence systems in an effort to dominate an industry many say will revolutionize the economy. OpenAI was last valued at $86 billion late last year, when employees sold existing shares. Thrive, a New York-based firm founded 15 years ago by Josh Kushner, already has a close relationship with OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman. It has put several hundred million dollars into the startup since last year.
Since then, an arms race has developed in Silicon Valley to build the most advanced artificial-intelligence systems in an effort to dominate an industry many say will revolutionize the economy. OpenAI was last valued at $86 billion late last year, when employees sold existing shares. Thrive, a New York-based firm founded 15 years ago by Josh Kushner, already has a close relationship with OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman. It has put several hundred million dollars into the startup since last year.
Calling All Fools (Score:4, Insightful)
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I'm interested!
However, I need you to send me $1000 so I can access my money.
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Is that you, my Nigerian prince?
Re: Calling All Fools (Score:2)
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They gotta make themselves part of normal life (Score:2)
I don't know how they can get $417 per person but my bet would be to make themselves an obstacle to having a normal life, like smart phones are now. If you don't have a phone it's going to be difficult to have a job, fly in a plane, etc.
Perhaps someday you just won't be able to get a white-collar job without a subscription to OpenAI, which will be part of the job-finding and hiring process, integrate itself with your work and spy on you for your employer.
IRS should backdate revoke OpenAI's non-profit (Score:1)
Isn't OpenAI is suppose to be a non-profit and doesn't have to pay any tax till now? Now suddenly it wants to raise $100 billion and presumably make everyone involved very very rich. You can't possibly believe that someone is willing to put in $100 billion into a company that doesn't plan to make any money for its shareholders.
Hey IRS, time to do a deep audit on OpenAI and backdate revoke its non-profit status. It is clear that OpenAI never intended to be non-profit in the first place- it's just a tax avoid
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There is OpenAI Global, LLC the commercial arm of the business, and OpenAI, Inc the non-profit part of the organization. They didnt specify, but I'm going to assume this is the LLC, not Inc.
Re:IRS should backdate revoke OpenAI's non-profit (Score:5, Informative)
For the record, I think this is the most bat$h!t insane corporate structure likely to end up in one if not many lawsuits as it looks ripe for abuse. But yes you can own a part of a holding company that is a "majority" owner (one wonders who the minority owners are being enriched by this).
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Our (relatively) small corporation isn't far different from that.
The company I work for is actually owned by a holding company that is actually controlled by another LLC that represents the primary founders with special rules in its corporate governance to basically insure that the company I work for can have relatively normal corporate rules without compromising the security of the majority ownership if, for example, their families were to sue for their assets or whatev
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OpenAI follows GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and SEC rules by having a non-profit own a for-profit--the reverse is prohibited.
But yes you can own a part of a holding company...
Investors cannot own the (non-profit) holding company.
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OpenAI can be a not-for-profit entity and still raise money. If it generates income, it can not pay taxes on that income as long as it's meeting it's not-for-profit mission. However, if OpenAI were to be acquired, the shareholders would make a tremendous capital gain. The shareholders are still very different entities as investment funds or people in OpenAI, and would have to pay capital gains tax on a liquidation of their assets. So in no way does that j
100 Billion air-bubbles maybe... (Score:2)
All this AI craze shows is that too many people are without real intelligence...
Re:100 Billion air-bubbles maybe... (Score:4, Interesting)
Thrive Capital, the lead, was founded by Josh Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner of Trump Family Fame. Say what you want about the Kushners; amoral, shady, sneaky people; they are not stupid.
As a VC, you're getting in on the AI hype of the current market leader of the AI bubble. AI is changing the world right now, not practically because AI hasn't done anything other than make fake nude pictures without consent and write my DnD campaign for me, but the conversation about the potential of AI is threatening entire nations [bloomberg.com]. So of course as an investor, if you have the right access to make a statement for the current leader in AI (at least in the conversation, in terms of technical and product that's debatable), you of course make a play to own it. And the headlines are eye-popping! $100B private value! It's worth more than 75% of the companies on the NASDAQ which are held to a higher standard!
Also, by deploying that capital, you collect a 2% management fee. Now that it's deployed, Thrive Capital will be bringing in $20M in management fees, per year, just on that one deal. Understand that at that scale, the job of a VC is not to make good investments, it's to look like you make good investments. That way you can move money in the form of management fees from your LPs pockets into your own.
They're not stupid. They are actually quite smart. The difference is, you think they're making investments because they think that's what it's worth. That's the wrong lens to view this. In reality, they're investing other people's money into private, non-liquid assets to generate huge management fees that result in liquid assets for themselves.
capitalism loooooooool (Score:1)
the bigger they are the harder they fall (Score:3)
But there is downside to overvaluing a company too... so when they go to IPO the early investors might have a hard time taking alllll that money off the table... creates a good case for claiming they were misled.. then lawsuits.
Oh well, we got the money to hire the lawyers now, so