OpenAI has closed its latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital – including over $3 billion from individual investors – against a post money valuation of $852 billion.
The round was “anchored” by its strategic partners Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank, with continued participation from long-term partner Microsoft. SoftBank co-led the round alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, the company said. Large investment firms including BlackRock, Blackstone and Sequoia Capital also participated.
“Together, consumer adoption, enterprise deployment, developer usage, and compute form a reinforcing flywheel that is translating capability into economic impact,” OpenAI said in an announcement.
While the $3 billion raised from retail investors is a comparatively small portion of the total, it is the first time OpenAI has tested its ability to raise capital from individuals rather than funds or technology partners.
It is further expanding its exposure to public markets through a newly announced inclusion in “several” exchange-traded funds managed by Ark Invest. This move – which will allow retail investors to effectively gain effective exposure to OpenAI by proxy – may be in preparation for its widely anticipated IPO later this year.
The company has also increased its revolving credit facility to $4.7 billion, which it says will provide “added flexibility as we continue to invest at scale.”
As it prepares for a public offering, it has scaled back its rapid growth strategy somewhat, shuttering the video generation app Sora and revising its compute spending target down to $600 billion by 2030 – less than half the $1.4 trillion proposed last year.
