Apple, NVIDIA in talks to Raise Funding for OpenAI

OpenAI, ChatGPT maker, is expected to raise funding from Apple and NVIDIA at a valuation of $100 billion. Per reports, Thrive Capital, an NYC based VC firm, will lead the round. OpenAI is currently valued at $86 billion. 

Earlier this year, Microsoft, OpenAI's oldest, and most significant strategic partner, valued them at $30 billion. While they are still in the talks to participate in the upcoming fundraise, the details are unclear. 

Apple and OpenAI could see this fundraise as a new way to strengthen their existing relationship that saw a new height with the “Apple Intelligence” initiative where OpenAI’s AI features were made a core part of apple’s products. This acquisition is also telling about OpenAI’s value within the apple ecosystem, and how Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, wants an inside on OpenAI’s future innovations.  

NVIDIA is optimistic in OpenAI commitment to “Humanity, Computing and AI.”  In line with this, earlier this year, Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO, personally hand-delivered the first NVIDIA DGX H200 to OpenAI. 

What does Open AI’s future hold?

OpenAI’s growth since the launch of 2022 has been record breaking. It has sparked a reckoning in the AI community, especially among investors and VC firms, who are constantly in the race of staying  on top of cutting edge AI driven technologies and capturing market share. 

On 29th August, OpenAI reported that ChatGPT has surpassed more than 200 million active users.  Fortune 500 companies are heavily dependent on OpenAI, with around 92% of them using the latter’s products, per an OpenAI spokesperson. According to her, the API usage has also doubled since the launch of GPT-4o mini. OpenAI’s recent collaboration with AI Safety Institute  also highlights their commitment to advance safe and trustworthy AI innovation for all.