Cathie Wood is doubling down on OpenAI efforts with a $250 million investment

Key takeaways

Cathie Wood’s Ark Venture is investing $250 million in OpenAI’s $6.6 billion funding round.
OpenAI is now worth $157 billion after a massive funding boost.

Cathie Wood’s Ark Venture Fund has pledged to invest at least $250 million in OpenAI’s latest round of funding, According to to the Business Insider report. Ark’s second investment in developer ChatGPT reinforces its belief in OpenAI’s potential as an AI leader.

The $250 million investment brings the round to $6.6 billion, as he stated in today’s OpenAI announcement, raising the company’s valuation to $157 billion. This latest round positions OpenAI as one of the three largest venture-backed startups in the world, alongside Elon Musk’s SpaceX and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

Ark Venture’s recent $250 million investment in OpenAI reinforces Cathie Wood’s strong belief in the future of artificial intelligence, which is consistent with the Ark Venture Fund’s consistent focus on disruptive technologies. The AI-led fund supports companies such as SpaceX, Databricks, FiguraAI, Anthropic and xAI, underscoring Ark’s commitment to shaping the future of technology innovation.

The massive $6.6 billion funding round announced by OpenAI today was led by Thrive Capital and included major investors such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Khosla Ventures, and Altimeter Capital. Global players such as SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi-based MGX also attended the conference, further underscoring the widespread belief that artificial intelligence will play a key role in the future of technology.

OpenAI plans to use the funds to accelerate artificial intelligence research and expand its computing capacity to meet the growing demand for generative AI technologies.

“Artificial intelligence is already personalizing learning, accelerating healthcare breakthroughs and increasing productivity,” OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement. “And this is just the beginning.”

With OpenAI now valued at $157 billion, the company’s position as a leader in the AI space is more secure than ever. However, it faces fierce competition from tech giants such as Google and Amazon, as well as emerging startups founded by former OpenAI employees. The growing capital flowing into AI research signals that the race to develop the most advanced generative AI models is far from over.