OpenAI, the developer behind the Chatbot ChatGPT, plans to secure at least $5 billion in new investments, while the company aims for a valuation of $150 billion. This would be almost a doubling of the previous company value of $86 billion earlier this year.

The San Francisco-based startup is currently in talks with investors such as Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft to finance its ambitious expansion plans. The goal is to develop AI models that surpass human intelligence and give OpenAI an advantage over competitors like Anthropic, Google, and Meta. An investor privy to the project reported that the total capital raising could even exceed $6.5 billion.

The venture capital firm Thrive Capital, led by Josh Kushner, will lead the round with a $1 billion investment. While Microsoft’s involvement, having already invested $13 billion in OpenAI, is considered certain, Apple and Nvidia are also discussing the extent of their financial support.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, OpenAI has made rapid progress, generating an annual revenue of 2 billion USD in 2023. Despite this growth, the company remains unprofitable due to enormous development costs and faces increasing competition. Competitors such as Anthropic and xAI have also raised substantial financial resources, further increasing the pressure on OpenAI.

With an intended valuation of $150 billion, OpenAI would become one of the highest-valued startups globally, comparable to Elon Musk's space company SpaceX. This funding round occurs amid growing concerns about a potential bubble in the AI sector, as investors increasingly demand returns and the costs of developing and training advanced AI models rise.