OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, completes a major fundraising of $6.6 billion

Still confidential two years ago, the organization has become a key player in tomorrow’s technologies.

The sums mentioned are dizzying and represent the height of the technological revolution to come. OpenAI announced that it had completed a fundraising of 6.6 billion dollars, which valued it at 157 billion, reinforcing the status of the creator of ChatGPT as a star of Silicon Valley and a key player in generative artificial intelligence. “Every week, more than 250 million people around the world use ChatGPT to improve their work, creativity and education”the company welcomed in a press release on Wednesday October 2.

This fundraising makes OpenAI one of the three largest unlisted start-ups in the world, according to Bloomberg, alongside SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space exploration group, and Chinese entertainment giant ByteDance, owner of the TikTok application. OpenAI launched the generative AI wave at the end of 2022 (production of content on a simple query in everyday language) with its ChatGPT interface, which has become synonymous with this new type of service. Since then, from Microsoft to Google and Meta, all the major technology groups have competed with tools intended to help humans on a daily basis.

This major step for the company, still confidential two years ago, comes after a year marked by the launch of new innovative AI models, but also by numerous controversies. Last November, the board of directors fired Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, accusing him of a lack of transparency and attention to security issues. He was reinstated in his role at the head of the start-up after a few days, supported by the overwhelming majority of employees and the main investor, Microsoft. But departures at the summit have been increasing since May.

Founded in 2015, OpenAI is a non-profit organization, and it is believed to work for the good of humanity. But according to Bloomberg, the start-up could change its status, to place more emphasis on generating profits, while continuing to benefit society from its scientific advances. In mid-September, OpenAI launched o1, a new kind of AI model, capable of reasoning and answering more complex questions, particularly mathematical ones. OpenAI aims to develop “general” AI, that is to say artificial intelligence similar to that of humans.