For the sake of all those retirees and soon-to-be-retirees whose nest-eggs are in S&P 500 index funds let us hope Mr. Altman has found the money.
From the Wall Street Journal, December 18:
Concerns about an AI bubble have weighed on many publicly traded tech-related companies
OpenAI is aiming to raise as much as $100 billion as it seeks to pay for ambitious growth plans in a market that has cooled recently on the artificial-intelligence boom.
The fundraising round, which is in the early stages, could value the company at as much as $830 billion, if it raises the full amount it is targeting, people familiar with the matter said. The startup aims to complete the round by the end of the first quarter at the earliest. Terms of the deal could still change, and it is unclear whether there will be sufficient investor demand to reach the goal.
The round will present one of the biggest tests the company has faced since the public market’s exuberance for AI spending waned. Chief Executive Sam Altman has already scoured the world to build the pool of OpenAI’s investors and the company is now weighing a potential initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
OpenAI needs an abundance of capital to build its AI models and stay competitive in a rapidly changing market.
SoftBank agreed to invest $30 billion in OpenAI earlier this year and last month, sold its Nvidia stake for $5.8 billion to fund the OpenAI bet. OpenAI is expected to secure the remaining $22.5 billion in planned financing from SoftBank by the end of the year.
OpenAI has engaged in a year-end dealmaking spree that includes a content-licensing agreement and a $1 billion investment from Disney. The deals show that OpenAI’s fundraising machine remains formidable even as questions about how it will pay for expansion plans remain largely unanswered.
OpenAI is expected to recruit sovereign-wealth funds to invest in the financing, given the scale, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has previously secured funding from United Arab Emirates-based MGX.
The Information earlier reported some details of OpenAI’s latest fundraising efforts.
The company has faced skepticism over computing deals it has forged that are worth hundreds of billions of dollars and issued a “code red” to beat back a growing threat from Google. While OpenAI is set to burn more than $200 billion in cash through 2030, Google has low levels of debt and robust profits, which could make it easier to invest further in AI.
OpenAI partners including Oracle and CoreWeave have seen their market values dip in recent months...
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In early pre-market trade the "partner" stocks are trading up, +$7.32 (+4.07%) for ORCL and +$3.42 (+5.05%) for CoreWeave.
