OpenAI Raises $122 Billion, Marking the Largest IT Investment Ever [Global AI Briefing]

[Financial News] OpenAI has secured a massive $122 billion (about 184 trillion won) in new funding, giving the company a valuation of $850 billion (about 1,284 trillion won). That makes it more valuable than Tesla, which is estimated to be worth around $700 billion. This latest round is also the largest investment ever recorded in the IT sector.
According to The Guardian on March 31 (local time), OpenAI raised $122 billion, surpassing its initial target of $110 billion. The company officially announced that Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank and others participated as major investors.
In particular, OpenAI also opened the round to individual investors and attracted about $3 billion from them.
OpenAI plans to use the newly raised capital to expand services centered on ChatGPT. The company aims to build a super-app that integrates search, coding, workflow automation and personal assistant features, significantly broadening the user experience. OpenAI stated, "ChatGPT is the technology platform that reached 10 million and 100 million users the fastest," adding, "It will soon become the fastest platform to reach 1 billion weekly active users."
Concerns over OpenAI’s financial structure, however, persist. The company currently generates about $2 billion in annual revenue, but some analysts predict it will be difficult for OpenAI to turn a profit before 2030 due to heavy infrastructure investments and high operating costs.

Oracle has reportedly begun a round of layoffs affecting thousands of employees. The move is seen as an effort to cover the enormous costs of building out its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
On March 31 (local time), major foreign media including MarketWatch reported that Oracle has started notifying employees of layoffs. The cuts are not limited to specific departments, but span Oracle Health, sales, the cloud division and the Oracle NetSuite unit, and are said to affect staff worldwide.

An email containing a layoff notice obtained by Business Insider stated, "After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have decided to eliminate your position as part of a broader organizational restructuring." Foreign media estimate the total number of job cuts will reach several thousand. Some outlets predict the reduction could be as high as 30,000 employees. As of May last year, Oracle had about 162,000 full-time workers.
Oracle declined to comment on inquiries regarding the layoffs.
Meanwhile, big tech companies are increasingly focusing on AI transformation, leading to a wave of large-scale job cuts. Amazon recently decided to eliminate 30,000 positions, among other workforce reductions across the sector.


cafe9@fnnews.com Lee Gu-soon Reporter