OpenAI said Wednesday it has raised US$6.6 billion in venture capital investments as part of a broader shift by the ChatGPT maker away from its nonprofit roots.
Led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, the funding round was backed by tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia and SoftBank, according to a source familiar with the funding who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.
The investment represents one of the biggest fundraising rounds in U.S. history, and ranks as the largest in the past 17 years that doesn’t include money coming from a single deep-pocketed company, according to PitchBook, which tracks venture capital investments.
Microsoft pumped up OpenAI last year with a US$10 billion investment in exchange for a large stake in the company’s future growth, mirroring a strategy that tobacco giant Altria Group deployed in 2018 when it invested US$12.8 billion into the now-beleaguered vaping startup Juul.
OpenAI said the new funding “will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems." The company said the funding gives it a market value of US$157 billion and will “accelerate progress on our mission.â€
The influx of money comes as OpenAI has been looking to more fully convert itself from a nonprofit research institute into a for-profit corporation accountable to shareholders.
While San Francisco-based OpenAI already has a rapidly growing for-profit division, where most of its staff works, it is controlled by a nonprofit board of directors whose mission is to help humanity by safely building futuristic forms of artificial intelligence that can perform tasks better than humans.
That sets certain limits on how much profit it makes and how much shareholders get in return for costly investments into the computing power, specialized AI chips and computer scientists it takes to build generative AI tools. But the governance structure would change if the board follows through with a plan to convert itself to a public-benefit corporation, which is a type of corporate entity that is supposed to help society as well as turn a profit.
Along with Thrive Capital, the funding backers include Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity Management and Research Company, MGX, ARK Invest and Tiger Global Management.
Not included in the round is Apple, despite speculation it might take a stronger interest in OpenAI's future after recently teaming up with the company to integrate ChatGPT into its products.
Brendan Burke, an analyst for PitchBook, said that while OpenAI's existing close partnership with Microsoft has given it broad access to computing power, it still “needs follow-on funding to expand model training efforts and build proprietary products.â€
Burke said it will also help it keep up with rivals such as Elon Musk's startup xAI, which recently raised US$6 billion and has been working to build custom data centers such as one in Memphis, Tennessee. Musk, who helped bankroll OpenAI's early years as a nonprofit, has become a sharp critic of the company's commercialization.
A non-binding motion from the Bloc Quebecois seeking money to boost seniors' benefits passed with the support of the other opposition parties on Wednesday.
Israel's ground incursion into Lebanon to battle Hezbollah militants left eight Israeli soldiers dead Wednesday, while the region braced for further escalation as Israel vowed to retaliate for Iran's ballistic missile attack a day earlier.
A San Diego doctor charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s fatal overdose pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.
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A 27-year-old man is facing several charges after police observed a vehicle travelling 134 km/h over the speed limit on Highway 174 in Ottawa's east end.
The NATO DIANA North American headquarters opened in Halifax Wednesday, marking a milestone moment for security and defence innovation advancement.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses will receive carbon rebates by December. Find out who is eligible and how to obtain the payments.
A total of 68 suspected gang members, with ties to White supremacy, were charged in the Los Angeles area Wednesday in a large-scale takedown, federal prosecutors said.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday he will not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran's nuclear program in response to Iran's missile attack on Israel.
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A jewel thief who is wanted in connection with crimes committed from Florida to South Korea stole a diamond ring worth $255,000 from a Tiffany store in New York by switching it with a cubic zirconia replica, authorities said.
Donald Trump is going back to Butler, where the world last saw him pump his fist and beseech followers to "fight," even as blood streaked his face from a would-be assassin's bullet.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel Wednesday, but said the international community must do everything it can to help avoid a bigger regional war.
A woman with the rare condition of two uteruses delivered twins, one from each womb, last month at a hospital in northwestern China, according to health officials and state media.
A medallion containing some of the original mould involved in the discovery of penicillin is expected to fetch up to US$50,000 when it goes up for auction later this month.
Black-coloured plastic used in children’s toys, takeout containers, kitchen utensils and grocery meat and produce trays may contain alarming levels of toxic flame retardants that may be leaching from electronic products during recycling, a new study found.
The bracket for 2024's Fat Bear Week contest was revealed Tuesday night, but only after a deadly bear-on-bear attack at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve on Monday delayed the unveiling.
A medallion containing some of the original mould involved in the discovery of penicillin is expected to fetch up to US$50,000 when it goes up for auction later this month.
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A San Diego doctor charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s fatal overdose pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.
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Jacob Hoggard wrapped up his time on the stand in his sexual assault trial this morning after the Crown cross-examined him on apparent gaps in his memory.
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Tom Turcich and his four-legged companion were greeted by a huge homecoming celebration in Haddon Township on May 21, 2022, with Turcich officially becoming the 10th person on record to walk around the world, and Savannah claiming the title of the first dog to do so.
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Prince William watched his beloved Aston Villa as it hosted Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.
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The men's final of this year’s China Open was billed as a battle between two titans and it definitely didn't disappoint.
Canadian-made Chrysler Grand Caravans have seen sales jump over the third quarter and calendar year. According to FCA Canada, sales were up by 79 per cent this quarter and up 85 per cent for the calendar-year to date.
A Pickering, Ont., student going to college to be a mechanic is shocked the engine in his two-year-old car will not be repaired under warranty after the dealership claimed he had been 'over-revving' the engine.
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Police in Cape Breton are searching for a Nova Scotia man who is wanted for an attempted murder in Millbrook, N.S.
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From bad behaviour in Waterloo, to a stabbing in Guelph. Here's what happened over Homecoming Weekend.
A reminder from police to lock up your bikes because bike thefts are a constant concern in our city, and the thefts are being linked to other criminal activity.
Saskatchewan’s police watchdog says an officer who shot a Saskatoon man while executing a warrant at a home on Lisgar Avenue did nothing wrong.
Election season has arrived in Saskatoon, with residents gearing up to vote in both provincial and civic elections.
The jury at the trial of a second-degree murder suspect in Sudbury on Wednesday heard graphic details of the crime scene discovered in a Kathleen Street apartment on Boxing Day 2020.
Jacob Hoggard wrapped up his time on the stand in his sexual assault trial this morning after the Crown cross-examined him on apparent gaps in his memory.
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The Minto Fire Department has made the difficult decision to pause its specialty rescue programs.
Evan James is about to get a taste of the big leagues.
It was billed as a town hall style meeting to discuss solutions to social problems in the Old East Village — but the first of two community engagement sessions hosted by the Ark Aid Street Mission quickly became a flashpoint to air grievances about ongoing challenges in the neighbourhood.
An Aurora, Ont. man who has maintained his innocence despite being convicted of killing his wife will learn his fate in a Newmarket courtroom on Wednesday.
Thinking about buying concert tickets or other items on Facebook? Police are warning the public about the risks of buying concert tickets and other items through social media, particularly Facebook Marketplace and Messenger.
Tributes have started pouring in for a Midland, Ont. man who died after reportedly being struck by an unmarked provincial police vehicle over the weekend.
One suspect has been arrested following a fraud investigation, conducted by the Windsor Police Service (WPS).
Windsor police are cracking down on retail thefts in the city.
The Chatham-Kent Police Service (CKPS) has seized $36,000 in drugs following a search warrant on Victoria Avenue in Ridgetown.
A pedestrian was struck by a taxi and rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries in downtown Victoria early Wednesday morning.
An island on Vancouver Island's Sproat Lake, "Sunset Island" is up for sale.
British Columbia's nagging drought could be eased by an incoming weather pattern that may bring a colder and wetter than normal winter, says Sean Fleming, an adjunct UBC professor of atmospheric sciences.
A father in Kelowna is furious after his 13-year-old daughter was brutally beaten on Gyro Beach. He is calling for criminal charges in the devastating attack, which was caught on video by multiple bystanders.
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Fire crews in Vernon, B.C., responded to a large house fire early Saturday morning.
From offering two meals a week to three a day, the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen has grown immensely over the past 40 years.
The sentencing for three men convicted of helping lead and coordinate the COVID-19 protest blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 has been delayed.
A 10-year-old boy from Lethbridge is being praised as a hero after a routine summer outing at the pool nearly turned tragic for his friend.
A woman who has worked for Â鶹´«Ã½ Northern Ontario for 50 years was honoured Tuesday night with a lifetime achievement award.
CTV Northern Ontario will be live on location in the community collecting donations to stock the shelves of local food banks this month.
Jacob Hoggard wrapped up his time on the stand in his sexual assault trial this morning after the Crown cross-examined him on apparent gaps in his memory.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
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