'ChatGPT Developer' OpenAI Secures KRW 160 Trillion in New Investment... Valuation Reaches KRW 1,200 Trillion

Sam Altman: "I want all investors to have access"
Signals plans for IPO

OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, has secured a new investment worth 110 billion dollars (approximately 160 trillion won). With the company’s valuation reaching 1,200 trillion won, CEO Sam Altman has effectively formalized plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO).

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Yonhap News Agency

On the 27th (local time), OpenAI announced that it had raised this total amount of new investment from Amazon, SoftBank, and Nvidia. With this latest funding included, OpenAI’s corporate value is now estimated at 84 billion dollars (about 120 trillion won).

Of the total new investment, Amazon contributed nearly half, investing 50 billion dollars. Amazon will invest 15 billion dollars upfront, with the remaining 35 billion dollars to be provided within several months if ‘certain conditions’ are met. Although the two companies did not disclose these conditions, local media speculate that they could involve OpenAI going public through an IPO or declaring the achievement of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

SoftBank, led by Chairman Masayoshi Son, also made an additional investment of 30 billion dollars. Its cumulative investment in OpenAI now stands at 64.6 billion dollars, representing about a 13% stake. Nvidia invested 30 billion dollars as well.

OpenAI stated that this investment marks the formation of a strategic partnership with Amazon and secures next-generation inference computing with Nvidia. OpenAI will use Amazon’s own artificial intelligence (AI) chips through Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center infrastructure. The two companies will also collaborate on developing custom AI models that Amazon developers can utilize.

Microsoft, which had been OpenAI’s largest investor, did not participate in this investment round but emphasized that the relationship between the two companies remains strong. In a joint statement released that day, OpenAI and Microsoft said, “Nothing announced today changes the terms of the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI. Our commercial and profit-sharing relationship will continue, and OpenAI’s proprietary models will continue to run on the Azure cloud.”

Meanwhile, with OpenAI’s corporate value surging by about 1.5 times in just four months, the so-called ‘AI bubble debate’ is expected to persist. Some on Wall Street have raised suspicions of ‘circular transactions,’ suggesting that OpenAI’s investors are making massive investments to ensure their chips and data center infrastructure are used. In an interview with local media, CEO Altman said, “I understand where the concerns come from,” but added, “When new revenue streams flow into the entire AI ecosystem, such transactions make sense.” He also stated, “If AI companies become as important as we think they will, I want all investors to have access,” effectively signaling plans for a public listing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.