OpenAI closes $175 mn fund to empower other AI startups

Sam Altman-run OpenAI has closed a $175 million investment fund focused on empowering other AI startups

San Francisco: Sam Altman-run OpenAI has closed a $175 million investment fund focused on empowering other AI startups, with backing from Microsoft and other investors.

The Information reported first about the fund-raise, citing a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

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The company had earlier said it would put $100 million into the startup fund.

However, the SEC filings show that the fund, called OpenAI Startup Fund I, is bigger than initially expected and is 75 per cent higher than the original plan, the report mentioned.

Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to the report.

The fund, managed by OpenAI CEO Altman and COO Brad Lightcap, raised the money from 14 investors, according to the filing.

OpenAI has already been investing in AI startups for some time. In recent months, ChatGPT and GPT-4 have become a rage worldwide.

OpenAI recently closed a more than $300 million share sale at a valuation between $27-$29 billion, according to the reports.

Altman has “privately suggested OpenAI may try to raise as much as $100 billion in the coming years to achieve its aim of developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is advanced enough to improve its own capabilities”.

OpenAI in February this year launched the new subscription plan, ChatGPT Plus, that is available for $20 a month.