OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has now raised $6.6 billion in a new funding round that values the company at $157 billion, nearly doubling its previous valuation of $86 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The funding round comes with strings attached: Investors have the right to withdraw their money if OpenAI does not complete its planned conversion from a nonprofit (with a for-profit division) to a fully for-profit company.
Venture capital firm Thrive Capital led the funding round with a $1.25 billion investment. Microsoft, a longtime backer of OpenAI to the tune of $13 billion, contributed just under $1 billion to the latest round. New investors joined the round, including SoftBank with a $500 million investment and Nvidia with $100 million.
