OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has secured $6.6 billion in new funding from investors, potentially valuing the company at $157 billion and solidifying its position as one of the world’s most valuable private companies.
Returning venture capital investors Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures, along with OpenAI’s major corporate backer Microsoft and new investor Nvidia, have participated in this funding round.
Thrive Capital, which committed about $1.2 billion from a combination of its own fund and a special purpose vehicle for smaller investors, negotiated the option to invest another $1 billion next year at the same valuation if the AI firm hits a revenue goal, sources added.
Apple, which was in talks to invest in OpenAI, did not end up joining the funding, sources said, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters.
The funding came in the form of convertible notes, and the conversion to equity hinges on a successful structural change into a for-profit that would no longer be controlled by the non-profit board and the removal of cap on returns for investors.
The company has told investors it is still actively pursuing artificial general intelligence (AGI), meaning developing AI systems that surpass human intelligence, as it ramps up commercialization and tries to be profitable.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple is integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT access into experiences within iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, allowing users to access its expertise — as well as its image- and document-understanding capabilities — without needing to jump between tools.
Siri can tap into ChatGPT’s expertise when helpful. Users are asked before any questions are sent to ChatGPT, along with any documents or photos, and Siri then presents the answer directly.
Additionally, ChatGPT will be available in Apple’s systemwide Writing Tools, which help users generate content for anything they are writing about. With Compose, users can also access ChatGPT image tools to generate images in a wide variety of styles to complement what they are writing.
Privacy protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT — their IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests. ChatGPT’s data-use policies apply for users who choose to connect their account.
ChatGPT will come to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this year, powered by GPT-4o. Users can access it for free without creating an account, and ChatGPT subscribers will be able to connect their accounts and access paid features right from these experiences.
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