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While $4bn is the base credit line, the ChatGPT maker has the option to increase it by an additional $2bn.
OpenAI has secured $4bn in revolving credit, just after it closed a funding round raising $6.6bn in investments.
Now, the start-up behind ChatGPT has liquid assets worth more than $10bn, giving it flexibility to invest in computing technology and scale up its business, the company said in a statement yesterday (3 October).
The revolving credit, which can be used over the course of three years, was secured from JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Santander, Wells Fargo, SMBC, UBS and HSBC. And while the $4bn is the base credit line, the start-up also can increase it by an additional $2bn, according to CNBC.
“This credit facility further strengthens our balance sheet and provides flexibility to seize future growth opportunities,” said Sarah Friar, OpenAI’s chief financial officer.
“We are proud to have the strongest banks and investors in the world supporting us.”
Earlier this week, OpenAI announced the closure of its latest funding round with a raise of $6.6bn, reaching a staggering valuation of $157bn – almost double its previous valuation of $80bn in February of this year.
The funding round was led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital and included big name investors Nvidia, SoftBank, Fidelity, Khosla Ventures and the start-up’s biggest supporter since 2019, Microsoft.
Thrive Capital, which injected $1.2bn, also agreed to invest an additional $1bn if the company hits a revenue goal.
Funding into OpenAI has come in the form of convertible notes, with a conversion into equity depending on the successful structural change of the company – from a not-for-profit to a for-profit, a structural change the start-up announced just days prior to the funding round closing. The change would also give the company CEO Sam Altman equity for the first time.
However, the company’s chief technology officer Mira Murati, research VP Barret Zoph and chief research officer Bob McGrew all announced their departures from OpenAI the day the start-up announced massive the structural changes, adding to a long list of high-profile departures from the AI giant.
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