Report: Apple exits OpenAI financing negotiations, Microsoft steps in with a $1 billion offer

On Saturday, September 28th, The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI's current round of financing plans to raise about $6.5 billion, which is expected to be completed next week, with Apple no longer participating in the OpenAI financing negotiations.

Microsoft and NVIDIA have been involved in the current round of financing negotiations. According to reports, Microsoft is expected to invest around $1 billion, having previously invested $13 billion in OpenAI.

The financing discussions at OpenAI may be affected by the departure of three executives this Wednesday. On Wednesday night, Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati resigned, followed by Chief Scientist Bob McGrew and Vice President Barret Zoph.

At the same time as this round of financing, OpenAI is striving to transition into a profitable company. If OpenAI fails to become a profitable enterprise within two years, its financing will convert into debt.

The New York Times reported on Friday that OpenAI is sharing the company's financial documents with potential investors, planning to achieve a valuation of $150 billion after raising $6.5 billion, which would make OpenAI one of the highest-valued tech companies in history.

In August, OpenAI generated revenue of $300 million, triple the amount from the same period last year, with an estimated annual revenue of around $3.7 billion for this year. However, OpenAI still expects to incur a loss of about $5 billion this year, mainly due to the costs of operating its services, as well as other expenses such as employee salaries and office rent. The documents also indicate that as the number of users of its products increases, OpenAI's expenses are growing, which means it may need to continue fundraising next year.

It is worth noting that OpenAI's biggest cost comes from its partnership with Microsoft. OpenAI allocates a significant amount of funds to Microsoft's cloud computing system, which hosts OpenAI's products.

Currently, the funding negotiations for OpenAI's current round of financing have not been completed, and participants and investment amounts may change.

Stay tuned for updates