OpenAI in talks to secure up to $40bn from major tech partners

OpenAI is holding talks to raise nearly $40bn in new investments from Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft as part of a massive funding round that could value the company at around $750bn.

According to people familiar with the discussions, Nvidia could invest as much as $20bn in the ChatGPT maker, while Amazon has considered putting in $10bn or more. Microsoft, which already owns about 27 per cent of OpenAI, is also expected to invest several billion dollars.

The potential commitments are part of a broader effort by OpenAI to raise up to $100bn to support its rapid expansion, particularly the growing demand for data centre capacity needed to train and operate advanced artificial intelligence models.

Large investments from the same technology companies that supply OpenAI with chips and cloud infrastructure have raised concerns among some analysts about the company’s financial structure, as OpenAI continues to operate at a loss.

In addition to the US tech giants, OpenAI is close to securing around $30bn from Japan’s SoftBank and is in discussions with sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and MGX.

Sources cautioned that the talks are ongoing and that it remains uncertain whether all potential investors will participate or whether OpenAI will reach its $100bn fundraising target.

Nvidia and OpenAI previously discussed a long-term arrangement involving up to $100bn in staged investments linked to data centre expansion, though that deal has not yet been finalised. Any new investment could either sit alongside or reshape that earlier agreement.

OpenAI also has a long-term cloud services deal with Amazon’s AWS, and a new investment could deepen the strategic relationship between the two companies. Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s earliest backers, remains its largest shareholder following a restructuring of their partnership last year.

The companies involved declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.