Microsoft has already tasted success in AIGC and is naturally sparing no effort in investing in OpenAI. Apple, due to its involvement in AI, is also eagerly awaiting cooperation with OpenAI and is naturally interested in OpenAI's new round of funding. NVIDIA, as the biggest beneficiary of the AI boom, is also delighted to invest in OpenAI, which explains why the big three in the tech industry are actively participating in OpenAI's new round of funding, right?

1. Are Microsoft, Apple, and NVIDIA actively participating in OpenAI's new round of funding?

Recent news indicates that this new round of funding, which has attracted three major American tech giants, could boost OpenAI's valuation to $150 billion. According to media reports, OpenAI is in talks to raise $6.5 billion from investors at a company valuation of $150 billion. Simultaneously, OpenAI is also negotiating to borrow $5 billion from banks in the form of a revolving credit facility. If these reports are true, OpenAI's valuation reaching $150 billion this month would represent a nearly 88% increase in its valuation in just over six months, less than seven months. In February of this year, The New York Times reported that OpenAI's valuation had tripled to $80 billion in less than 10 months, following transactions that included venture capital firms and employee cash-outs.

Today, the $150 billion valuation does not include the aforementioned $6.5 billion in new funding, which is expected to be led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, with participation from Microsoft, Apple, and NVIDIA. Microsoft, Apple, and NVIDIA are all committed to and continuing their investments in AI, making them key areas of focus for the long-term development of AIGC. From the perspective of these three companies, investing in AI is an inevitable trend and a historical development opportunity that cannot be ignored. They cannot afford to slacken. OpenAI is a leading representative in the field of general AI, whether through the launch of ChatGPT or Sora.

Although Google and Meta are also making significant efforts in this field, they still lag slightly behind OpenAI in competition. Microsoft has already tasted success in this area and will not easily give up. Apple plans to venture into this field, but as its technology is not yet mature, collaboration is always its guiding principle, which explains its investment in OpenAI. The involvement of these three giants is not good news for Google and Meta, as it may strengthen their competitors.

While the news awaits final confirmation, Microsoft's investment is ongoing, and Apple's enthusiasm for participation is high. NVIDIA also has ample funds and is actively investing everywhere, so it would be unlikely to miss this opportunity closely tied to AI. This also benefits its high-performance chips, naturally making it eager to invest in OpenAI. If the funding progresses smoothly, the three companies with the highest market values globally will all invest in OpenAI, highlighting the market's high expectations for its technological potential.

2. OpenAI's rapid market value growth reflects capital market expectations

The market believes that if OpenAI's valuation exceeds $100 billion, it will rank among the top private startups, following only a handful of companies like ByteDance and SpaceX. Following the news of OpenAI's latest funding round, we can also see that OpenAI is quickly burning through its funds. Its previous funding round was in January 2023, when Microsoft invested approximately $10 billion, the largest funding record in the AI field to date. In just 20 months, OpenAI has already exhausted this funding. Of course, this has also led to a rapid inflation in its valuation, which has now surpassed $100 billion.

Looking back at OpenAI's funding history, it has undergone seven funding rounds in ten years, including pre-seed, seed, secondary market, and corporate funding, raising a total of over $20 billion. Driven by this massive funding, OpenAI has developed ChatGPT 4.0, ushering in a new era of AI and igniting a capital frenzy that has propelled the development of AIGC into a new era.

Some say that Microsoft is the biggest contributor to the development of OpenAI and ChatGPT. In fact, the two sides have a mutually beneficial relationship, and Microsoft has also benefited greatly from its investment in OpenAI. For a time, Microsoft's market value ranked first globally, largely due to the rapid development of ChatGPT and its close integration with Microsoft's product lines. In this regard, Satya Nadella's perspective is broader, far exceeding that of giants like Tim Cook, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin.

3. Is Microsoft the biggest winner?

Over the past five years, OpenAI has received three rounds of funding from Microsoft totaling $12 billion. Microsoft accounts for 80% of OpenAI's funding. In addition to financial investment, Microsoft has also provided OpenAI with many resources. For example, all of OpenAI's technology runs on Microsoft's Azure cloud servers, and Microsoft has built a large-scale computing center for OpenAI. It can be said that without Microsoft's strong support, OpenAI's development in AI would not have progressed so quickly. Of course, Microsoft has also reaped rich rewards. Driven by OpenAI's technology, Microsoft has promptly integrated OpenAI into its Windows ecosystem, using it to build AI service systems across Bing search, Microsoft 365 office software, GitHub coding tools, and marketing software. This is a mutually beneficial relationship.

Although OpenAI has received frequent financial support from its investors, it is also burning through funds at an alarming rate. While Microsoft continues to invest, it is no longer the lead investor but a follower. On the one hand, Microsoft is avoiding potential antitrust scrutiny; on the other hand, it indicates that more companies are recognizing the value of OpenAI and are actively participating, hoping to secure a share of the future AIGC market. This is understandable, as Microsoft knows it cannot monopolize the benefits. Therefore, it is happy to participate rather than aiming for a quick victory.

For OpenAI, it is natural to prefer a diversified investor base to avoid over-reliance on any single party. Moreover, OpenAI's demand for funds is enormous. Currently, OpenAI is developing the next-generation GPT-5, which will only be more expensive than GPT-4 and GPT-4o. It is rumored that OpenAI will inevitably choose an IPO in the future, as more funding can only be obtained smoothly and adequately after entering the capital market. However, if OpenAI ultimately chooses an IPO, it would contradict its original startup intentions, which is why Elon Musk has consistently criticized this possibility.

Once OpenAI transforms into a for-profit enterprise, it can leverage its over $100 billion valuation to enter the IPO market. Of course, whether it ultimately chooses the IPO route is one of OpenAI's future plans. For now, it may continue with its existing funding model.