OpenAI raises another $10 billion, bringing the round to $120 billion — the largest AI bet in history

CFO Sarah Fryar said this in an interview with CNBC.

The new round includes both venture capital funds and large institutional players, including Microsoft, as well as Andreessen Horowitz, TPG and T. Rowe Price. Fryar called the partnership with Microsoft «incredibly important,» specifically noting the role of CEO Satya Nadella, who supported OpenAI in its early stages.

This round follows a previous large-scale fundraising round announced in late February, which valued OpenAI at around $730 billion pre-money, with key investors including Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank. Amazon, in particular, has not only invested tens of billions but has also entered into a multi-year partnership with OpenAI to build custom AI models.

Against this backdrop, OpenAI is growing rapidly as a business. Since launching ChatGPT in late 2022, the service has reached approximately 900 million weekly active users, and the company’s annual revenue is estimated at more than $13 billion. Currently, about 60% of revenue comes from consumer products, but the enterprise segment is growing faster — and, according to forecasts, could match it by the end of the year.

OpenAI sees the enterprise business as the foundation for long-term profitability. The company’s clients include large corporations such as Amgen, Lowe’s, and JetBlue. At the same time, competition is intensifying: its main rival, Anthropic, already receives up to 80% of its revenue from business customers and is also preparing for a possible IPO.

IPO is another topic that OpenAI is no longer avoiding. According to Fryar, the company is «already building the foundation» for a public offering. But at the same time, he acknowledges that even if OpenAI itself is ready, the market may not be ready for it.

Interestingly, at the same time, the company has begun to prioritize its products more strictly. For example, OpenAI recently shut down its video service Sora — not because of a lack of potential, but because of a banal shortage of computing resources. «We are forced to make difficult choices,» explains Fryar.

«We’re saying goodbye to Sora.» OpenAI is shutting down Sora, an AI video generator that launched less than a year ago. What happened?

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«We’re saying goodbye to Sora.» OpenAI is shutting down Sora, an AI video generator that launched less than a year ago. What happened?

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