OpenAI (OPENAI) CEO Sam Altman has reportedly been meeting with investors in the Middle East as part of a $50B funding round that could vault his company’s valuation to more than $800B, according to Bloomberg.
Altman toured the region recently and held meetings with investors, including state-backed investment firms from Abu Dhabi, the report said, citing people familiar with the issue. The round, if successful, would give OpenAI a valuation ranging from $750B to $830B. The Microsoft-backed (MSFT) creator of ChatGPT was most recently valued at $500B.
OpenAI is currently partnering with Nvidia (NVDA), Oracle (ORCL), Cisco Systems (CSCO) SoftBank Group (SFTBY)(SFTBF) and G42 to build Stargate UAE. It is a massive 5-GW AI data center campus in the United Arab Emirates. The first 200 MW of capacity is expected to come online sometime this year.