Japan's SoftBank Group plans to invest $500 million in OpenAI's latest significant fundraising round. According to earlier information, the American AI company is negotiating with investors to raise $6.5 billion at a valuation of $150 billion, with Thrive Capital leading, along with investors like Microsoft.
This funding round is expected to solidify OpenAI's position as one of the world's most valuable startups. If OpenAI goes public at a $150 billion valuation, its market cap would be close to that of leading investment bank Goldman Sachs, which currently has a market value of $156.2 billion.
If true, this would mark SoftBank's first investment in OpenAI. Earlier this year, in June, SoftBank formed a strategic partnership with Perplexity, one of OpenAI's competitors, investing $10 to $20 million, bringing Perplexity's valuation to $3 billion. In July, SoftBank's stock, listed in Japan, hit a record high of 12,180 yen per share. Despite a slight pullback, the stock has gained nearly 34% since the beginning of the year, reflecting investors' approval of the company's AI investments.
OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has reportedly visited SoftBank's Masayoshi Son multiple times. There are also speculations about potential collaborations between the two companies in AI chip development, in addition to SoftBank's investment in OpenAI.
However, OpenAI is facing significant uncertainties. Recently, reports emerged that the company is planning a restructuring, aiming to shift its core operations to a for-profit entity to attract investors. Concurrently, OpenAI's CTO, Mira Murati, announced her departure. She had earlier mentioned OpenAI's development of the GPT-5 model, and her exit might further delay its release.
Following Murati's resignation, OpenAI's Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and Vice President Barret Zoph also resigned. Last week, news broke that Apple had withdrawn from negotiations in OpenAI's funding round, possibly due to these key departures.
Additionally, financial documents reveal that OpenAI's revenue generation is considerably slower than its spending. The company projects $3.7 billion in revenue for this year but an estimated loss of around $5 billion.
