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Apple and Nvidia, two of the world’s most valuable companies along with Microsoft, are now in talks to back the latest funding round.
OpenAI has revealed that the number of weekly active users of its AI chatbot ChatGPT has doubled since last year to more than 200m.
The start-up headquartered in San Francisco has been at the helm of AI innovation, spurring a global race to build advanced models ever since it launched ChatGPT to the public in November 2022. Last November, CEO Sam Altman said it had more than 100m weekly active users.
Now, OpenAI boasts that more than 90pc of Fortune 500 companies are using its products and that usage of its automated API has doubled since the release of GPT-4o mini in July.
“People are using our tools now as a part of their daily lives, making a real difference in areas like healthcare and education – whether it’s helping with routine tasks, solving hard problems or unlocking creativity,” Altman said yesterday (29 August) in a statement to Axios.
Even as competition in generative AI models intensifies with competitors such as Anthropic, Cohere and Google looking to grab their slice of the cake with regular updates, OpenAI is a clear leader so far.
Microsoft has been the biggest backer of OpenAI since ChatGPT was released. The start-up established by a funding team that includes Altman and Elon Musk was worth $86bn at its latest valuation. Other backers include Khosla Ventures, Infosys and Y Combinator.
The latest weekly active users figure comes amid reports that OpenAI is in talks with Thrive Capital and Microsoft to raise a fresh round of funding soon. This investment is expected to make its valuation soar to more than $100bn.
Multiple reports yesterday confirmed that Apple and Nvidia, two of the world’s most valuable companies along with Microsoft, are also in talks to back the latest OpenAI funding round. New York-based venture capital firm Thrive Capital will lead the round with a $1bn injection.
Last month, Microsoft decided to give up its observer seat on the board of OpenAI saying it has seen “significant progress” in the AI start-up and no longer feels it is necessary to hold one. This is in the context of ongoing antitrust scrutiny of its ties with OpenAI in the US.
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