
Thrive Capital invested $100 million in OpenAI in 2017, marking a significant milestone in the company's growth. This partnership has had a profound impact on the AI landscape.
With Thrive Capital's support, OpenAI was able to accelerate its research and development efforts, leading to breakthroughs in natural language processing and other AI technologies. OpenAI's GPT-3 model, for example, is a testament to the company's innovative approach to AI development.
The Thrive Capital and OpenAI partnership has also had a ripple effect on the broader AI industry, with other companies taking notice of OpenAI's advancements and striving to keep pace.
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Thrive Capital and OpenAI
Thrive Capital led the funding round for OpenAI, a move that has sparked interest in the tech world.
The venture firm invested about $1.25 billion in OpenAI, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Josh Kushner, the founder of Thrive Capital, has a track record of making early investments in successful companies like Slack and Instagram.
He's also invested in OpenAI before, showing a commitment to the company's vision.
Kushner is close with OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, who has publicly praised Josh's investment acumen.
Thrive Capital has the option to invest another $1 billion in OpenAI next year if the company reaches a revenue goal.
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OpenAI Funding and Valuation

OpenAI's funding round was led by Thrive Capital, which committed $1 billion to the cause. This investment was a significant portion of the $6.6 billion raised by the company.
The funding round valued OpenAI at $157 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world. This valuation is a staggering increase from its previous valuation of $80 billion.
OpenAI plans to use the funding to double down on its leadership in frontier AI research, increase its compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems. This will be a crucial step in advancing AI research and development.
The company's revenue has been growing rapidly, with $300 million in revenue generated last month alone. This represents a 1,700 percent increase since the start of last year.
Here's a breakdown of OpenAI's revenue growth:
OpenAI's expenses remain high, particularly due to the cost of acquiring Nvidia's GPUs, which are essential for training and running its large language models. The company expects to lose around $5 billion this year.
The funding round was set up as convertible debt and is expected to wrap up by the end of next week. If all goes well, this could push OpenAI's valuation to a staggering $150 billion.
Future of OpenAI

OpenAI's future is looking bright, with a massive $6.6 billion investment to build even larger AI models. This funding round values the company at an unprecedented $157 billion.
The funds will be used to train AI frontier models, which are expected to cost billions to develop. OpenAI wants to build a series of "reasoning" models, which will only add to the costs.
The investment was led by Thrive Capital, which committed $1 billion and got a special deal to invest another $1 billion next year if OpenAI hits a revenue goal. This deal is contingent on OpenAI restructuring as a for-profit company.
If OpenAI doesn't restructure within two years, investors can ask for their money back. The company is considering becoming a public benefit corporation, similar to Anthropic.
Here's a rough estimate of OpenAI's revenue growth:
OpenAI's monthly revenue has already hit $300 million in August, and the company expects to reach $11.6 billion in annual sales next year.
Major Tech Investments

Thrive Capital led the funding round with participation from industry leaders like Microsoft, Nvidia, and SoftBank.
Microsoft made a substantial $10 billion investment in OpenAI last year, signaling a deepening partnership between the two companies.
This recent funding round further cements the bond between Microsoft and OpenAI, propelling them towards a market valuation of $157 billion.
Tech giants like Microsoft, Nvidia, and SoftBank have shown confidence in OpenAI's vision and capabilities by participating in the funding round.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the biggest investor in OpenAI?
According to our records, Microsoft is the largest investor in OpenAI, leading a $10 billion Series E funding round in January 2023.
Sources
- https://www.benefitsandpensionsmonitor.com/news/industry-news/openai-secures-157bn-valuation-with-new-funding-round-led-by-thrive-capital/388893
- https://fusionchat.ai/news/thrive-capital-leads-66-billion-investment-in-openai
- https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-investors-latest-funding-round-2024-10
- https://medium.com/@basavaraj.bsk05/thrive-capitals-exciting-move-in-openai-s-6-5-billion-funding-round-94b2a5127b7e
- https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/2/24260457/openai-funding-round-thrive-capital-6-billion
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