OpenAI’s Growth Accelerates: $8.3 Billion Funding Round Completed
OpenAI has successfully closed a new funding round, raising $8.3 billion as part of a broader $40 billion effort. This achievement, completed ahead of schedule and with demand five times higher than available shares, highlights the surging investor interest in artificial intelligence platforms.
ChatGPT Business: Paid Users on the Rise
The number of companies using the paid version of ChatGPT has climbed to 5 million, up from 3 million just months ago. This growth has boosted OpenAI’s annual recurring revenue to $13 billion, with projections to exceed $20 billion by year-end.
Investors and AI Sector Competition
The round included major financial groups such as Dragoneer Investment Group, which contributed $2.8 billion, alongside Blackstone, TPG, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Altimeter, D1 Capital, Tiger Global, and Thrive Capital. SoftBank remains the lead backer of the overall fundraising effort.
Competition with Anthropic and Global Capital Pursuit
Competition is intensifying: Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s main rivals, is negotiating a new funding round between $3 and $5 billion, aiming for a $170 billion valuation. Both companies are seeking investments from the Middle East to support growth and infrastructure, such as OpenAI’s new data center in Abu Dhabi in partnership with G42.
"It’s become substantially harder to stay on the frontier of AI development without tapping into these funds."
Dario Amodei, CEO Anthropic
- OpenAI accelerates fundraising and revenue growth
- ChatGPT Business surpasses 5 million paid users
- Global investors focus on artificial intelligence
- Competition with Anthropic intensifies
- New collaborations and infrastructure in the Middle East