International Finance News, September 14th (Editor Xia Junxiong) According to media reports, the latest valuation of the American artificial intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI has reached an astonishing $150 billion, but there is an important premise, which is that OpenAI needs to change its complex corporate structure and cancel the profit cap set for investors.

OpenAI is negotiating a new round of financing

As early as the end of August, there were reports that OpenAI is negotiating a new round of financing, planning to raise billions of dollars at a valuation of over $100 billion. Venture capital firms Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, and OpenAI's largest shareholder Microsoft, as well as other existing investors, are expected to participate. In addition, new investors including Apple and Nvidia also plan to participate in this round of financing. Sequoia Capital is also in talks to return as an investor.

In addition, new investors including Apple and Nvidia are also planning to participate in this round of financing. Sequoia Capital is also in talks to return as an investor.

The latest news reported this week, due to the increased expenses required to build large-scale AI systems, OpenAI recently decided to raise the financing amount. It is reported that OpenAI is in talks with investors for a $6.5 billion financing, and will also raise an additional $5 billion from banks in the form of revolving debt.

Insiders revealed that the new round of financing for OpenAI is expected to be in the form of convertible notes, with its valuation increasing to $150 billion, while the company's most recent valuation was $80 billion, indicating an increase of close to double.

Sources said that given the rapid growth of OpenAI's revenue, this round of financing has received enthusiastic attention from investors and may be finalized within the next two weeks.

To achieve a valuation of $150 billion, the company needs to adjust its structure.

However, to achieve such a high valuation, OpenAI needs to change its company structure and remove the current profit cap set for investors.

OpenAI was established in 2015 as a non-profit organization and then transitioned to a for-profit startup in 2019. OpenAI currently defines itself as a capped-profit enterprise.

OpenAI currently provides shares to investors through its for-profit subsidiary, which is managed by its non-profit board of directors. According to OpenAI, the primary beneficiaries of the board are humanity as a whole, not OpenAI investors.

Currently, investors in OpenAI are required to sign an operating agreement that stipulates any investment in OpenAI's for-profit subsidiary should be made with a spirit of donation, and OpenAI may never make a profit.

Sources say that if OpenAI is unable to change its company structure, the company will need to renegotiate its valuation with investors and their stocks may be converted at a lower figure.

The profit cap means that there is a limit on the return on investment for investors, and any additional returns will flow to the non-profit organization. The return cap for the first round of financing for OpenAI was 100 times the investment amount, and the company stated in 2019, "We expect the multiples for future rounds to be lower."

OpenAI has not yet made a final decision.

The removal of the profit cap requires the approval of the non-profit board of directors of OpenAI, which is composed of CEO Sam Altman, entrepreneur Bret Taylor, and seven other members.

Sources say that OpenAI has discussed with lawyers the issue of transforming its non-profit structure into a for-profit public interest company, similar to the practices of competitors like Anthropic and xAI.

It is currently unclear whether OpenAI will make this fundamental structural adjustment.