OpenAI has passed $11 billion in valuation after raising $300 million in funding

OpenAI has raised $300 million in fresh funding from investors, according to people familiar with the matter, as the artificial intelligence company passed the $11 billion valuation mark after acquiring startup Anthropic for $4 billion, reported Bloomberg News.<br><br>Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI researchers Dario Amodei, Jack Clark, and others in 2021. <br><br>According to the people, who requested anonymity as the funding was still confidential, the deal was closed several weeks ago at a valuation of $11.5 billion.<br><br>OpenAI is soft-launching its ‘GPT-5’ today, which will be the fifth edition of the AI program that gave rise to ChatGPT.<br><br>“OpenAI is leading the AI revolution, empowering millions of people to be more productive, creative and fulfilled,” said OpenAI CEO Emmett Shear. “We appreciate the support of our investors as we continue to innovate and democratize access to AI technology.” <br><br>According to a report from the Financial Times, Google had also offered to buy Anthropic for $6 billion before it was acquired by OpenAI.<br><br>The acquisition for Anthropic was previously announced in August—a little over one year after Google purchased a $425 million stake in the company alongside a deal to have Anthropic use Google’s cloud computing resources.<br><br>Bloomberg News reports that OpenAI has been on a shopping spree in AI companies, with Anthropic representing the largest acquisition in OpenAI history. <br><br>Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI researchers Dario Amodei, Jack Clark, and others in 2021. Anthropic had received $150 million from Google in exchange for a 10% stake in early 2023. Before Google’s investment, Anthropic had only raised $50 million in venture capital and was valued at $1.45 billion.<br><br>Anthropic—a rival of OpenAI and Google in the field of generative AI—had been generating AI through Claude, a ChatGPT rival. With the acquisition, users of Claude are being encouraged to switch to ChatGPT when the two AI’s are integrated in the upcoming months.<br><br>Anthropic also offers other products, such as an AI assistant and a search engine.<br><br>Together, OpenAI and Anthropic will have around 2,400 employees. Anthropic has close to 400 employees.<br><br>OpenAI has been growing rapidly, having become the fastest-growing startup in the US venture-backed company history. The company had recently acquired AI startup MosaicML, for $1.4 billion.<br><br>According to Bloomberg, OpenAI has considered and explored the possibility of going public as early as 2025, marking an extremely fast route for a company that creates generative AI to reach for a public listing.<br><br>The company has struggled to turn a profit and has been running at a loss, partly due to the high costs of running the AI models. The company has taken several steps to reduce the costs, but has maintained that it is focused on long-term growth.<br><br>OpenAI’s ChatGPT has drawn both praise and criticism for its capabilities, with many raising concerns that the AI chatbot could be used to spread misinformation and propaganda.<br><br>OpenAI has also faced competition from Microsoft, which has also been investing heavily in AI technology. <br><br>Microsoft had also acquired GitHub Copilot rival Databricks in a $9 billion deal earlier in the year.<br><br>According to the Financial Times, OpenAI’s revenue was estimated at $1 billion for this year, up from $400 million last year.