OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation (cnbc.com)

Article summary

OpenAI has closed a record-breaking funding round at a post-money valuation of $852 billion, with $122 billion of committed capital. The company has extended participation to investors through bank channels for the first time and raised $3 billion from individual investors. OpenAI is generating $2 billion in revenue per month and made $13.1 billion in revenue last year, but is still burning cash and not yet profitable. The funding round was led by SoftBank, Andreessen Horowitz, and D. E. Shaw Ventures, among others.

Main themes

• AI investment bubble
• financial crisis risk
• valuation justification
• retail investor access
• ethical implications
• market trends
• investment opportunities

What commenters say

• The massive investment in AI is crowding out other industries and may lead to a financial crisis.
• The high valuation of OpenAI and other AI companies is not justified by their current revenue and profitability.
• The lack of AI exposure for retail investors is deliberate and intended to benefit insiders and early investors.
• The comparison between the current AI investment bubble and the dot-com bubble is apt, with some arguing that it will eventually burst.
• Others argue that the high revenue multiple of OpenAI is not insane and that the company's growth prospects justify its valuation.
• Some commenters are concerned about the ethical implications of investing in AI and military technology.
• The concentration of investment in AI is seen as a result of a lack of other attractive investment opportunities, such as the housing market or traditional stocks.