According to CNBC, OpenAI has a $4 billion revolving credit facility, bringing its total liquidity to more than $10 billion. It was reported on Wednesday OpenAI closes latest funding round The valuation is $157 billion, including $6.6 billion the company has raised from numerous investment firms and large technology companies.
JPMorgan, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Santander, Wells Fargo, SMBC, UBS and HSBC are among those involved.
The base credit line is $4 billion, with an option for an additional $2 billion. The loan is unsecured and can be tapped within three years. OpenAI’s interest rate is equal to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus 100 basis points. SOFR, a measure of how much it costs to borrow cash overnight, was just over 5% as of the start of the week, meaning OpenAI will immediately pay about 6% interest on the borrowed funds.
“This means we now have access to over $10 billion in liquidity, giving us the flexibility to invest in new initiatives and operate with full agility as we scale,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post on Thursday. It added that the company plans to use the funds to invest in research and products, expand infrastructure and attract talent. “It also reaffirms our partnership with a distinguished group of financial institutions, many of whom are also OpenAI customers.”
Open artificial intelligenceThe latest round of funding includes a number of investment firms and large technology companies. Thrive Capital leads the round and plans to invest US$1 billioninvestors include existing backers Microsoft and chip manufacturers NVIDIA. SoftbankKhosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, MGX and Tiger Global are also involved, people familiar with the matter said.
The rapid rise of OpenAI, which began with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, has been the biggest story in the tech industry over the past few years, bringing the concept of generative AI become mainstream and pave the way for tens of billions of dollars of investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Earlier this year, it was reported that OpenAI was valued at $80 billion, up from $29 billion in 2023.
According to CNBC, OpenAI’s revenue last month was US$300 million, a growth of 1,700% since the beginning of last year. Confirmed Last week, according to a report in the New York Times. According to a person close to OpenAI, the company expects sales to reach $11.6 billion next year, up from $3.7 billion in 2024.
But all this revenue comes at an extremely high cost, as OpenAI must increase its purchases of Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to train and run its large language models. The company expects to lose about $5 billion this year, the person said. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and is a key partner as the software giant strengthens its Azure cloud business.
OpenAI has also experienced a number of growing pains in recent months, including the loss of key executives, a trend that continues As of last week With the departure of chief technology officer Mira Murati, director of research Bob McGrew and vice president of research Barret Zoph.
OpenAI held an all-hands meeting last Thursday after the board decided to consider reorganizing the company into a company. profit-making enterpriseIf changes occur, the nonprofit arm will continue as a separate entity, people familiar with the matter said.
At that meeting, Ultraman Denial Plan Report He wanted a “huge stake” in the company, according to a person who attended, calling the information “untrue.”
OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor told CNBC in a statement last week that while the board had discussed the matter, there was no specific number.
“The board has discussed whether having Sam receive equity compensation would be beneficial to the company and our mission, but no specific numbers have been discussed and no decision has been made,” Taylor said.
