(Jan 29): Nvidia Corp, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc are in discussions to invest as much as US$60 billion ($75.7 billion) in OpenAI as part of a major new funding round, the Information reported, citing people familiar with the talks.
The planned investments would contribute to a round of as much as US$100 billion, the Information said. Existing backer Nvidia is in talks to invest up to US$30 billion and Microsoft, also already a backer, less than US$10 billion, according to the report. Amazon, a new investor, could commit over US$10 billion or even more than US$20 billion, the Information said.
The massive fundraising round could help alleviate investor concerns about OpenAI’s cash burn, while continuing the investment frenzy surrounding the leaders of a technology with the potential to transform industries and economies. In recent months, Wall Street analysts have warned of a potential bubble forming, in part because of the circular nature of some of those investment deals — where companies invest heavily in potential customers to keep up spending on their own products.
The planned new investments into OpenAI are in addition to the US$30 billion that SoftBank Group Corp is planning to commit, according to the report.
OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon representatives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The size of Amazon’s investment into OpenAI could depend on other deals the two companies are negotiating, the Information said. OpenAI is in initial discussions to raise at least US$10 billion from Amazon and use its chips, a potential win for the online retailer’s effort to broaden its AI industry presence and compete with Nvidia. The companies also announced a deal in which Amazon will supply the startup US$38 billion of cloud computing power over seven years.
OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman has also been meeting with top investors in the Middle East to line up funding for a new investment round that could total at least US$50 billion, people familiar with the matter have said. The ChatGPT maker is looking to raise US$50 billion or more in the round at a valuation of about US$750 billion to US$830 billion, the people said. The talks are early, and the amount could change.
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