OPENAI'S $122B “VC ROUND” IS VENDOR DEALS, CONTINGENT CAPITAL, AND A GUARANTEED RETURN IT ARGUABLY CAN'T AFFORD

Summary from the TLDR AI newsletter

OpenAI closed a $122 billion investment round at an $852 billion post-money valuation at the end of last month. Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank accounted for $110 billion of that investment, while the remaining $12 billion came from a broader pool of institutional and individual investors. This article breaks down the numbers of the deal. Completely separate from the round, OpenAI is negotiating a joint venture with several private equity firms valued at roughly $10 billion pre-money with a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5%, plus early access to OpenAI models before general availability.