Source: Apple is no longer in talks to participate in an OpenAI funding round that is expected to raise as much as $6.5B
Company behind ChatGPT is aiming to raise around $6.5 billion in funding set to close next week — Apple is no longer in talks to participate in an OpenAI funding round expected …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s reported withdrawal follows an earlier structure in which Apple would add ChatGPT to its operating systems without an upfront payment, while seeking eventual revenue-sharing arrangements with chatbot providers. That made the commercial distribution relationship distinct from an equity stake from the outset.
It also follows Apple’s decision not to take an OpenAI board observer role amid AI antitrust scrutiny. Together, the coverage points to Apple keeping its OpenAI relationship at arm’s length even as ChatGPT was becoming part of its product strategy.
First-order effects
- OpenAI loses Apple as a prospective participant in the funding round, leaving the round’s investor mix and any capital Apple might have supplied to be covered by other backers.
- Apple retains flexibility to use ChatGPT in its products without tying itself to OpenAI through a direct ownership position.
Second-order effects
- Other prospective and existing OpenAI backers gain greater importance in completing the planned raise; a contemporaneous analysis highlighted the possibility of Microsoft funding OpenAI’s costs tied to Apple’s ChatGPT usage, illustrating how commercial payments and financing could become intertwined.
- The separation of Apple’s distribution role from its investment role puts more weight on the eventual economics of the ChatGPT integration, including any revenue-sharing arrangement rather than an equity alignment.
Third-order effects
- If large platform distributors continue to partner with frontier-model providers without taking stakes or board roles, AI alliances may increasingly be governed by usage, revenue-share, and infrastructure contracts rather than cross-ownership.
- Antitrust sensitivity may reinforce that structure: keeping capital, governance, and distribution separate can reduce visible entanglement, though it does not eliminate dependence on a small set of major platforms and funders.
The trend: Frontier AI partnerships are evolving toward commercially negotiated access and distribution arrangements, while ownership and governance ties face greater scrutiny.
Related: Apple · OpenAI funding analysis · Apple’s ChatGPT revenue-sharing strategy · Frontier-lab capital concentration · Circular AI financing
Related Coverage
- Apple Balks and Walks from OpenAI Investment Spyglass
- WSJ: ‘Apple Is No Longer in Talks to Join OpenAI Investment Round’ Daring Fireball · John Gruber
- Apple is reportedly not investing in OpenAI AppleInsider · Charles Martin
- Apple not investing in OpenAI after all, new report says 9to5Mac · Chance Miller
- Apple Bowing Out Of OpenAI Funding Round, iPhone 16's Camera Ranking, And More: This Week In Appleverse Benzinga
- Apple Backs Out of OpenAI's $6.5 Billion Funding Round News.ng · Hamsat Abdurasheed
- Epic slams Apple for 11th-hour discovery delay in app developer dispute Daily Journal
- Apple no longer courting OpenAI like before, the partner behind key iPhone 16 AI features PhoneArena · Anam Hamid
- Apple reportedly backs out of OpenAI funding round Mashable · Christianna Silva
- Apple No Longer Expected to Invest in OpenAI [Report] iClarified
- Apple's exit from OpenAI funding round sparks questions about future ties Neowin · Paul Hill
- Apple Confirms Exit from OpenAI's $6.5 Billion Funding Round as Microsoft Boosts Investment Business Times · Chris Liu
- Apple Pulls Out from OpenAI Funding Round Set to Raise $6.5B: Report iPhone in Canada Blog · John Quintet
- Thrive Capital secures sweetheart deal in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI's $6.5 billion funding round Business Today
- Apple drops out of talks to join OpenAI investment round: report Reuters
- Apple Is No Longer In Talks To Invest In OpenAI, Who Will Reportedly Be Expected To Raise Around $6.5 Billion Wccftech · Omar Sohail
- Apple no longer interested in joining OpenAI's $6.5B funding round NewsBytes · Dwaipayan Roy
- Apple no longer in talks to invest in OpenAI: report Business Insider · Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
- Apple drops out of talks to join OpenAI investment round Deccan Herald
- Apple doesn't need to invest in OpenAI. It has the luxury of selecting and swapping in and out whatever LLM provider it chooses, as long as it serves the best interests of their customers. … Milton Pedraza
- Apple was late to the AI game but there are signs that they are waking up a bit earlier to its reality than the hysterical rest of Silicon Valley: … Oliver Reichenstein
- Apple not investing in OpenAI after all, new report says Hacker News
- OpenAI Pivoting From “Benefiting Humanity” to “Making Lots of Money” Futurism · Victor Tangermann
- OpenAI's $6.5B funding round may close as soon as next week TechCrunch · Kyle Wiggers
- OpenAI, the company that brought you ChatGPT, just sold you out Beehaw · Tardigrada To
- OpenAI was a research lab — now it's just another tech company The Verge · Kylie Robison
- OpenAI sees roughly $5 billion loss this year on $3.7 billion in revenue CNBC · Hayden Field
- ChatGPT Plus price could more than double within 5 years — here's why Tom's Guide · Alan Martin
- ChatGPT subscription cost could potentially double in a few years; OpenAI raising $7 billion 9to5Mac · Michael Burkhardt
- OpenAI Faces Record Losses: ChatGPT Price Hike Possible Gizchina.com · Abdullah Mustapha
- OpenAI's 2024 sales: $3.7B. Estimated losses: $5B Philip Elmer‑DeWitt · Philip Elmer-DeWitt
- OpenAI expects about $5 billion in losses this year, report says The Hill · Sophia Vento
- OpenAI might raise the price of ChatGPT to $44 by 2029 TechCrunch · Kyle Wiggers
- OpenAI Suffers $5 Billion Annual Loss On $3.7 Billion In Revenue: Reports DNyuz
- OpenAI sees $5 billion loss in 2024 and soaring sales as big ChapGPT fee hikes planned, report says Fortune · Jason Ma
- Five reasons why OpenAI's $150B financing might fall apart Marcus on AI · Gary Marcus
- The price of ChatGPT Plus could more than double in the next five years TechRadar
- OpenAI plans to double ChatGPT's price in five years, targeting $100 billion in revenue by 2029 The Decoder · Matthias Bastian
- Quoting Mike Isaac and Erin Griffith Simon Willison's Weblog
- OpenAI Plans To More Than Double ChatGPT Price Over Next 5 Years: Report Benzinga · Rounak Jain
- OpenAI projects staggering revenue growth: $3.7 Billion in 2024, $11.6 Billion in 2025 Neowin · Pradeep Viswanathan
- Sam Altman tells OpenAI staff there's no plan for him to receive a ‘giant equity stake’ in company NBC News · Hayden Field
- Meta's Costly Reality The Information · Martin Peers
- OpenAI reportedly plans to increase ChatGPT's price to $44 within five years Engadget · Danny Gallagher
- Expect price hikes from OpenAI if you pay for ChatGPT. — “Roughly 10 million ChatGPT users pay the company a $20 monthly fee. … Brett Pollak
- CNBC has confirmed that OpenAI expects about $5 billion in losses on $3.7 billion in revenue this year — figures first reported by The New York Times. … Pramod Gosavi
- At an all-hands meeting Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman denied that there are plans for him to receive a “giant equity stake” in the company … Hayden Field
- OpenAI Structured Outputs: How-To Guide for Developers The New Stack · Oladimeji Sowole
- OpenAI Funding Reportedly Nears Close, Projects $11.6 Billion in 2025 Revenue The Information · Stephanie Palazzolo
- AI Power Drain: OpenAI Wants to Build Data Centers Using Electricity Equal to 1% of Entire World's Consumption Breitbart · Lucas Nolan
- TSMC execs allegedly dismissed Sam Altman as ‘podcasting bro’ — OpenAI CEO made absurd requests for 36 fabs for $7 trillion Tom's Hardware · Mark Tyson
- OpenAI's Sam Altman dismissed as “podcasting bro” by TSMC over $7 trillion proposal TechSpot · Zo Ahmed
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman branded “podcasting bro” for his reportedly absurd plan to “take $7 trillion and many years to build 36 semiconductor plants … Windows Central · Kevin Okemwa
- TSMC rejects ‘Podcasting Bro’ Sam Altman's $7 trillion fab plan Digital Trends · Andrew Tarantola
- It's happened. OpenAI wants to use more electricity than bitcoin (2-4x more). — They want five to seven 5 gigawatt data centers 🤯 — OpenAI also wants 36 new semiconductor manufacturing facilities. TSMC is the largest semiconductor manufacturer and the only leading-edge manufacturer and they have 18. … @LilahTovMoon@tech.lgbt · Shoshana
- Ow. Ow ow ow. That is just a savage burn — https://www.nytimes.com/... [image] @jalefkowit@vmst.io · Jason Lefkowitz
- It's not just OpenAI who are flagging that data centres are central to AI. Without the critical infrastructure enabled by these and the appropriate networks we'll … Amanda Brock
- Last week data centres were declared to be critical national infrastructure in the UK. They're certainly critical to AI … James Teare
- Modern AI is already notorious for being energy-hungry, and it's about to get worse! OpenAI is in the spotlight for planning some of the biggest data centers ever to power its next wave of products. … Angela Chapman
- Behind OpenAI's plan to make A.I. flow like electricity Hacker News
Discussion
-
@72mena
Juan Flores Mena
on threads
Maybe Apple got a sneak peek at the hardware OpenAI is building with Jony Ive and decided to create distance now.
-
@firerock31
Andy Cheng
on threads
Apple rarely invests in other companies, so their decision to drop out of investing in OpenAI is a clear sign that something might be off, especially with OpenAI expecting to close this funding round next week. It's also concerning that Apple lags so far behind its competitors i…
-
Vox
Sigal Samuel
on x
OpenAI as we knew it is dead
-
@sigalsamuel
Sigal Samuel
on x
OpenAI is building tech that aims to totally change the world without asking if we consent. It's undemocratic. And Sam Altman just proved that bespoke corporate structures & voluntary commitments won't cut it — we need LAWS that give independent oversight https://www.vox.com/...
-
@wsjtech
@wsjtech
on x
OpenAI's plan to convert to a for-profit company is meant to simplify the world's leading AI startup. Making that happen will be enormously complex. https://www.wsj.com/...
-
r/Futurology
r
on reddit
OpenAI as we knew it is dead | The maker of ChatGPT promised to share its profits with the public. But Sam Altman just sold you out.
-
@gruber
John Gruber
on threads
Yeah what a miss. Tim Cook and his dumb focus on profitable (and carbon neutral) products and services.
-
@paul_rietschka
Paul Rietschka
on threads
It's not a company. It's not a cult. It's...an incinerator for cash with no future prospects whatsoever. $44/per user for ChatGPT Pro, btw, for those of you who enjoy making poor decisions.
-
@kalihays1
Kali Hays
on threads
Several new deets in here based on info OAI sent to potential investors. Including! Plans to charge individual users $44 to use ChatGPT plus — RE: https://www.threads.net/...
-
@benedictevans
Benedict Evans
on threads
OpenAI hit $300m of monthly revenue in August Accenture booked $1bn of ‘generative AI’ work in the 3 months to August.
-
@annmlipton
@annmlipton
on x
This is interesting - OpenAI, and Anthropic before it, are using SPVs to raise money. https://www.nytimes.com/... The purpose of that is the securities laws. If OpenAI/Anthropic have too many investors, they'll have to make public filings. But -
-
@grady_booch
Grady Booch
on x
“For every dollar we make it costs us a dollar and thirty cents, but don't worry, we'll make it up in volume.” — OpenAI
-
@ccm_brett
Brett
on x
triple digit negative profit margins Just a little more scale and we get there, I promise
-
@garymarcus
Gary Marcus
on x
updating with a slight softening, 7 hours later: If it doesn't fall apart, investors will demand unusual conditions. some hint of that already, here: https://www.nytimes.com/...
-
@jason_kint
Jason Kint
on x
Here is the full report. And remember they're not paying for nearly all of the content they're arguably “stealing” to train their LLMs. https://www.nytimes.com/...
-
@jason_kint
Jason Kint
on x
Wow. Spending $8.7B to get $3.7B. [image]
-
@modestproposal1
@modestproposal1
on x
The good news is that OAI predicts $100B in 2029 revs. The bad news is if scaling laws hold that's less than a training run will cost. [image]
-
@modestproposal1
@modestproposal1
on x
I know they have to have forecasts but if you build God who knows but it's probably more than $100B and if you don't $44/mo consumer subscription product seems unlikely? https://www.nytimes.com/...
-
@amir
Amir Efrati
on x
@MikeIsaac & @eringriffith today have additional reporting supporting this. https://www.nytimes.com/...
-
@mikeisaac
Rat King
on x
sorry, 350 million Monthly users! didnt mean to short change em! more numbers here [image]
-
@zerohedge
@zerohedge
on x
*OPENAI MONTHLY REVENUE HIT $300M IN AUGUST: NYT how much of it is from high school/college students?
-
@modestproposal1
@modestproposal1
on x
Honestly thought God would cost more $44/month [image]
-
@eringriffith
Erin Griffith
on x
Scoop w @MikeIsaac: A detailed look at OpenAI's financials as part of its latest fundraise. One key detail: Lead investor Thrive Capital gets to invest up to $1bn more at the same $150bn valuation through the end of 2025. No other investor gets that term.
-
@mikeisaac
Rat King
on x
NEW: OpenAI expects $3.7 billion in revenue in 2024 and has 300 million monthly users but it expects to lose at least $5 billion in 2024, and needs to continue raising money to deal with its mounting costs story w @eringriffith https://www.nytimes.com/...
-
r/Economics
r
on reddit
OpenAI Is Growing Fast and Burning Through Piles of Money
-
r/singularity
r
on reddit
Gift Article: OpenAI Is Growing Fast and Burning Through Piles of Money
-
@cathiedwood
Cathie Wood
on x
OpenAI's freemium strategy is working.
-
@manan
@manan
on x
alright y'all, time to get out of your OpenAI positions, ARKK has found out about OAI
-
@indaindica.bsky.social
@indaindica.bsky.social
on bluesky
Yet, it would cost nothing to NOT build those plants. Clearly the better decision. [embedded post]
-
@marsrover.bsky.social
@marsrover.bsky.social
on bluesky
OK but I would absolutely listen to hours upon hours of TSMC guys just absolutely roasting the shit out of Valley bros & VCs.
-
@mikal-el.com
Mikal Lewis
on bluesky
We're past the era where we should empower pro-computing voices that aren't vigorously exploring the paradox of sustainable computing. — Headlines about cloud computing expansion and hurricane impact don't belong in the same news cycle. [embedded post]
-
@fluxandflow.bsky.social
@fluxandflow.bsky.social
on bluesky
I cannot articulate how happy it makes me that he was shot down and ridiculed by TSMC. [embedded post]
-
@lifewinning.com
Ingrid Burrington
on bluesky
I promise once we spend 1/10th of the GDP of the fuckin planet this tech that currently loses billions of dollars will be profitable!! What a clown [embedded post]
-
@stevelohr
Steve Lohr
on x
Tracking the Sam Altman road show to drum up global support for a massive data-center and chip-factory investment plan. @CadeMetz + @trippmickle https://www.nytimes.com/...
-
@edzitron
Ed Zitron
on x
This article is really good, but also shows that Altman lacks the juice and know-how to actually turn the wheels of power beyond money. https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
-
r/ArtistHate
r
on reddit
OpenAI reportedly wants to build ‘five to seven’ 5 gigawatt data centers — 'You're talking about more than 1% of global electricity consumption for just those datacenters alone'
-
r/singularity
r
on reddit
Behind OpenAI's Audacious Plan to Make A.I. Flow Like Electricity (Gift Article) (2024-09-25)