After the tremendous success of ChatGPT, its creator OpenAI has become the most valuable generative AI firm, which is backed by tech giant Microsoft. Within months of ChatGPT’s social media popularity, OpenAI attracted $10 billion from Microsoft, which wanted to integrate the AI chatbot into search engine Bing.
OpenAI has also managed to cash in on its valuation by raising $300 million through a share sale in April 2023. While the firm which also created Dall-E, reportedly lost $540 million in 2022 for developing ChatGPT and GPT-4, it has more than made up for that by attracting millions of users from 156 countries.
As OpenAI continues to lead the AI revolution that has shaken up the tech world, this article decodes how its valuation has grown by leaps and bounds.
In this research, we will find OpenAI Valuation as of 2023, What is the total funding for OpenAI?, Who are the shareholders of OpenAI? and How much revenue has OpenAI generated?
Top OpenAI Valuation statistics
- With 200 million users, OpenAI had hit a valuation of $30 billion by May 2023, and was ranked the top disruptor among 50 by CNBC.
- South Korean investors are willing to invest in OpenAI with a valuation of $40 billion, which is $10 billion above its valuation now.
- Between 2021 and 2023, OpenAI’s valuation has more than doubled from $14 billion to a whopping $30 billion.
Although OpenAI’s stocks aren’t being traded publicly, you can still invest in Openai stock. The generative AI giant isn’t planning an IPO in the near future.
OpenAI Funding History
- OpenAI raised $300 million at a valuation of $27 billion – $29 billion from VC firms including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive and K2 Global. Investors have signed the term sheets and completed the fund transfer. However, the next step involves OpenAI’s countersigning.
- Microsoft’s invested around $10 billion earlier this year
- As of April 2023, OpenAI had raised $11.3 billion in funding through 7 funding rounds from 14 investors.
- According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, OpenAI, the startup specializing in artificial intelligence, has successfully concluded an investment fund with a value exceeding $175 million. The details are outlined in the official document. The company said at the time it would put $100 million into the fund to invest in startups working in artificial intelligence. The fund was officially announced on May 26, 2021.
- OpenAI has invested in total of 4 startups. On May 1, 2023, OpenAI made its latest investment in Oikeus.AI. Other 3 investments of OpenAI are Ambience Healthcare, EdgeDB & Descript.
List of OpenAI investors:
- Microsoft
- Y Combinator
- Elon Musk
- Greg Brockman
- Reid Hoffman
- Jessica Livingston
- Peter Thiel
- Amazon Web Services
- Infosys
- Sam Altman
- Khosla Ventures
- Tiger Global Management
- Andreessen Horowitz
- Bedrock Capital
- Matthew Brown Companies
- Thrive Capital
- Sequoia Capital
- K2 Global
- Microsoft for Startups MEA
| DATE | INVESTORS | AMOUNT | ROUND |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | Y Combinator, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Reid Hoffman, Jessica Livingston, Peter Thiel, Amazon Web Services, Infosys, Sam Altman | N/A | – Not yet verified |
| Mar 2019* | Khosla Ventures | N/A | Seed Not yet verified |
| Jul 2019 | Microsoft, Khosla Ventures, Microsoft for Startups MEA | $1.0b | Late VC |
| Jan 2021* | Tiger Global Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Bedrock | N/A | Secondary |
| Jan 2022 | Matthew Brown Companies | N/A | Secondary Not yet verified |
| Jan 2023* | Microsoft | $10.0b Valuation: $29.0b | Late VC |
| Apr 2023* | Tiger Global Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, K2 Global | $300m Valuation: $29.0b | Late VC |
- Microsoft own 49 percent of the artificial intelligence firm Openai. They will also get 75 percent of OpenAI’s profits until it recoups its initial investment.
- Other investors owns another 49 percent
- While OpenAI’s nonprofit parent company owns only remaining 2 percent. In 2019, OpenAI, originally an artificial intelligence research laboratory, underwent a transition to become a for-profit organization. This transition involved the establishment of two entities: OpenAI LP as the for-profit entity and the non-profit parent foundation known as OpenAI.
OpenAI board which manages the OpenAI LP for profit company includes employees or members like:
- Greg Brockman (Chairman & President),
- Ilya Sutskever (Chief Scientist),
- Sam Altman (CEO), and
- non-employees like Adam D’Angelo, Reid Hoffman, Will Hurd, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, and Shivon Zilis.
OpenAI Financial Statements:
- Here is the OpenAI Full filing
| fiscal year | Total Revenue |
| Dec. 2021 | not disclosed |
| Dec. 2020 | $3,481,784 |
| Dec. 2019 | $31,932,729 |
| Dec. 2018 | $49,968,631 |
| Dec. 2017 | $33,228,665 |
| Dec. 2016 | $13,807,074 |
OpenAI Revenue
- OpenAI projects $1 billion in revenue by 2024
- Expects $200 million revenue in 2023
- OpenAI’s 2022 revenue was $20M – $30M.
Surprisingly OpenAI’s Losses Doubled to $540 Million in 2022
OpenAI valuation growth
With OpenAI’s revenue expected to jump from $28 million in 2022, to $200 million in 2023, its valuation has also been surging from $20 billion by December 2022, to $30 billion now. It had closed a funding round of more than $10 billion in April, which triggered a major spike in its value.
OpenAI estimated valuation and market behaviour
- OpenAI currently controls a 4% market share in the AI industry, as generative AI is growing at a CAGR of 31.4%.
The company which was started as a non-profit organization, is now being tipped to collect a revenue of $1 billion by 2024.
OpenAI has been investing in other AI startups as well, and has created a $175 million fund for the same.
OpenAI userbase growth
How many users does OpenAI have?
After ChatGPT amassed 1 million users in just 5 days after launch, OpenAI has been able to clock more than 800 million unique users in a month as of March 2023. The user base has continued to grow even after OpenAI launched a paid subscription service ChatGPT Plus at $20 per month in February.
The valuation of the generative AI brand comes from its popularity as visits to its site went up from 266 million in December 2022 to 1 billion in February 2023, and increased by 180% to 1.8 billion in May.
OpenAI founder’s wealth
OpenAI had been founded by serial entrepreneur Sam Altman alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who later exited the firm. After the company’s success, Sam Altman’s net worth has reached an estimated $500 million from various ventures.
Conclusion
OpenAI is not just worth billions, but is making profits for small and large businesses globally, including Microsoft, which aims to boost all its services with generative AI ChatGPT. OpenAI’s other products such as text-to-image creator Dall-E will also continue to make waves as digital art grows.
