Apple No Longer in Talks to Join OpenAI Investment Round
Company behind ChatGPT is aiming to raise around $6.5 billion in funding set to close next week
Apple AAPL 0.12%increase; green up pointing triangle is no longer in talks to participate in an OpenAI funding round expected to raise as much as $6.5 billion, an 11th hour end to what would have been a rare investment by the iPhone maker in another major Silicon Valley company.
Apple recently fell out of the talks to join the round, which is slated to close next week, according to a knowledgeable person.
Two other tech giants, Microsoft and Nvidia, have also been in talks to participate in the round. Microsoft is expected to invest around $1 billion, adding to the $13 billion it already has put into the company, according to people familiar with matter.
The funding talks aren’t completed and it is possible the participants and investment amounts could change.
Venture-capital firm Thrive Capital is leading the round and putting in around $1 billion. Investment firm Tiger Global Management and United Arab Emirates state-backed company MGX are also in talks to participate.
OpenAI is also in the process of overhauling its corporate structure from a nonprofit into a for-profit company. That change, which was encouraged by many of the investors in the round, will be a complicated process for the startup. If it doesn’t complete the change within two years, investors in the current round will have the right to request their money back.