Following this announcement, the funding round is expected to enable the company to conduct AI research, release more tools, as well as grow its computing infrastructure, such as data centers. The investment has also placed OpenAI at a USD 300 billion valuation.
Softbank led the investment round in order to enable OpenAI to further accelerate its development process in the industry, as well as in the process of designing AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalised education, enhance human creativity, and improve the way toward AGI.
According to the officials of the company, OpenAI will need to expand its infrastructure in order to power the use of its AI tools. Softbank mentioned its plans to fund up to USD 30 billion of the USD 40 billion investment round, and is expected to syndicate no more than USD 10 billion to other co-investors. It will also have the option to reduce its amount of investment to USD 20 billion if OpenAI does not change its business structure in order to have a for-profit business by the end of this year.
At the same time, Softbank also cited Stargate, a new strategy that was announced back in January with President Trump. The initiative aims to invest USD 500 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure over the next four years.
The new funding round represents one of the many steps OpenAI has taken to accelerate its development in the industry. Earlier in March, the firm announced its partnership with NatWest Group in order to support bank-wide simplification and improve client experience. The collaboration also focused on optimising the ability to meet clients’ needs faster and more efficiently, as well as to increase productivity across its banks. By using OpenAI’s insights and technology, the financial institution aimed to update how quickly it deploys its development in GenAI.
During the same month, Nubank partnered with OpenAI to elevate its customer experience and internal efficiency. By leveraging AI solutions developed by the company, Nubank was set to offer internal enterprise knowledge search (the feature provides employees with instant access to company insights and drive faster decisions), call center copilot, AI-powered assistance that resolves 55% of Tier 1 inquiries and reduces chat response times by 70%, as well as fraud quality assurance.
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