OpenAI seek investments from Middle East for multibillion-dollar round
Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, participates in a panel discussion on artificial intelligence at the Technical University of Berlin on February 7, 2025 in Berlin, Germany.
Axel Schmidt | Reuters
OpenAI is in talks with sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East to secure investments for a new multibillion-dollar financing round, CNBC confirmed Wednesday.
The round is expected to total around $50 billion, but figures are subject to change and term sheets have not yet been signed, according to a source familiar with the discussions who asked not to be named because the details are confidential. Bloomberg was the first to report the discussions.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in the United Arab Emirates to participate in investment talks, the source said. The tour is expected to be completed in the first quarter of the year.
OpenAI launched the AI boom with the launch of AI chatbot ChatGPT in 2022 and has since become one of the fastest-growing commercial entities on the planet. The company has raised billions of dollars from investors as it works to scale and develop new models and roll out new features.
Last year, OpenAI closed a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank, the largest private technology financing on record. In addition to the main investor Microsoft, the round also included participation from Coatue, Altimeter and Thrive.
OpenAI also completed a $6.6 billion stock sale in October, pushing its valuation to $500 billion.
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