This figure shadows its last valuation, which hit $80 billion back in February 2024 after its previous valuation of $29 billion. This will also make its valuation the highest of any AI startup to date.

Earlier this year, annualised revenue reportedly exceeded $2 billion. The company experienced a significant surge in growth from late 2022, following the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot. This momentum continued as the company introduced new products for businesses and ventured into AI-generated photos and videos.

According to sources cited in the report, venture capital firm Thrive Capital is anticipated to lead the upcoming funding round with an investment of roughly $1 billion. Thrive Capital is a long-standing investor in the company.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest supporter, is also participating in the funding round.

This news comes shortly after OpenAI revealed that it plans to introduce a prototype search engine, named SearchGPT. The tool aims to provide users with fast and timely answers supported by clear and relevant sources.

OpenAI mentioned that it intends to integrate this tool, currently being tested by a select group of users, into its ChatGPT chatbot in the future.

The introduction of SearchGPT could have significant implications for Google, which currently dominates the search engine market. Since ChatGPT's launch, Alphabet investors have expressed concerns that OpenAI could potentially erode Google’s market share by offering consumers innovative ways to find information online.

With this prototype, OpenAI is exploring that very possibility, offering users the ability to search in a more natural, intuitive way and engage in follow-up questions just like in a conversation.

OpenAI was founded in December 2015 with the mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. The organisation was established as a non-profit entity by a group of prominent figures in the tech industry, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Wojciech Zaremba, and John Schulman. Their vision was to create and promote friendly AI in a way that prioritises safety and ethical considerations, mitigating the potential risks associated with AGI.

In its early years, OpenAI focused on a range of AI research areas, including reinforcement learning, robotics, and natural language processing. The organisation quickly gained attention for its work on AI safety and ethics, as well as for developing cutting-edge models and algorithms.

A significant turning point for OpenAI came in 2019 when it transitioned from a non-profit to a "capped-profit" model. This change, marked by the creation of OpenAI LP, allowed the organisation to attract significant investment while still adhering to its mission. Under this model, profits are capped, with excess returns redirected to the non-profit OpenAI Inc. This structure enabled OpenAI to raise substantial capital to fund its research, including a notable $1 billion investment from Microsoft in July 2019. Microsoft’s investment also led to a strategic partnership, with Microsoft becoming OpenAI's exclusive cloud provider through its Azure platform.

Throughout its journey, OpenAI has maintained a strong focus on safety and ethical considerations in AI development. The organisation continues to pursue its mission of ensuring that AGI, once developed, is aligned with human values and benefits all of humanity.