ChatGPT Owner OpenAI Projects $1 Billion In Revenue By 2024

OpenAI, the research organization co-founded by Elon Musk and investor Sam Altman and backed by $1 billion in funding from Microsoft, expects $200 million in revenue next year and $1 billion by 2024. Reuters reports, citing 'three sources briefed on OpenAI's recent pitch to investors': OpenAI was most recently valued at $20 billion in a secondary share sale, one of the sources said. The startup has already inspired rivals and companies building applications atop its generative AI software, which includes the image maker DALL-E 2. OpenAI charges developers licensing its technology about a penny or a little more to generate 20,000 words of text, and about 2 cents to create an image from a written prompt, according to its website.

A spokesperson for OpenAI declined to comment on its financials and strategy. The company, which started releasing commercial products in 2020, has said its mission remains advancing AI safely for humanity. In a taste of what's to come, startups including Synthesia and Jasper, the latter having relied on OpenAI's tech, have drawn Fortune 500 companies to use their video-generation or AI copywriting tools, according to their websites. OpenAI has also attracted attention as an AI provider and potential Google search competitor, with ChatGPT answering queries for more than 1 million users so far.

A 'capped-profit' structure that OpenAI created in 2019 also represented an unusual restriction for venture capital. OpenAI wanted to safeguard its mission by limiting backers' returns to 100 times their investment, or less in the future. Others may be doubling down. Microsoft this year has looked at adding to its stake, two other sources told Reuters and the Wall Street Journal previously reported. Its hope is to drive business for Microsoft's cloud as more enterprises embrace AI.

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