OpenAI’s US$852 billion valuation faces investor scrutiny amid strategy shift

[SAN FRANCISCO] OpenAI’s US$852 billion valuation is under scrutiny from some of its backers, as the company shifts its focus to the enterprise market to fend off competition from Anthropic, Financial Times reported on Tuesday (Apr 14).

In March, OpenAI raised US$122 billion in what would likely rank as the largest fundraising round in Silicon Valley history.

However, the company has redrawn its product road map twice in the past six months in response to competitive threats from Google and Anthropic.

The report revealed that some OpenAI investors said that the changes could leave it vulnerable to Anthropic and a resurgent Google, even as the company prepares for an initial public offering as early as 2026.

Some industry watchers have predicted that Anthropic’s pace of revenue growth will eclipse that of OpenAI within a couple of months.

“You have ChatGPT, a one billion-user business growing 50 to 100 per cent a year. What are you doing talking about enterprise and code?” an early backer of OpenAI told FT.

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“It’s a deeply unfocused company.”

OpenAI’s chief financial officer Sarah Friar said that the suggestion that investors are not supportive of the company’s strategy defies the facts, FT reported.

In a statement to Reuters, an OpenAI spokesperson said that the company’s US$122 billion fundraise was “oversubscribed, completed in record time and backed by a broad set of leading global investors, reflecting strong conviction in our direction, current business momentum and long-term value”. REUTERS