OpenAI Poised to Raise $100 Billion, Valuation Likely to Top $850 Billion

As OpenAI's first phase of a new funding round nears completion, there is growing speculation that the company could raise more than 100 billion dollars (about 145 trillion won). Some observers also expect its total valuation to exceed 850 billion dollars (about 1,233 trillion won), which would be larger than initially projected.

On February 19 (local time), Bloomberg, citing people familiar with OpenAI's fundraising, reported that "there is a possibility that more than 100 billion dollars will be raised and that the company's total valuation could surpass 850 billion dollars."

The company's valuation upon completion of the round was initially expected to be around 830 billion dollars. However, with the possibility of additional capital inflows now being raised, some are projecting that the valuation could climb above 850 billion dollars. Before this funding round, OpenAI's valuation was cited at around 730 billion dollars.

The first tranche of this funding round is expected to come mainly from strategic investors such as Amazon, SoftBank, Nvidia, and Microsoft. These companies are expected to finalize their respective investment allocations by the end of this month.

Bloomberg previously reported that, in connection with this deal, Amazon has discussed investing up to 50 billion dollars, SoftBank up to 30 billion dollars, and Nvidia 20 billion dollars. It added that the corporate investors' capital is expected to be paid in several installments over the course of this year in a tranche structure.

In addition, after the first phase of fundraising, a second round is planned that will bring in financial investors such as venture capital firms and sovereign wealth funds. Some sources explained that the total amount of capital raised could increase significantly after that.