Nvidia discusses 3.4 trillion won investment in open AI developer

"Nvidia discusses 3.4 trillion won investment in open AI developer"

IT media outlet The Information reported on the 3rd (local time) that Nvidia is discussing a plan to invest 2.5 billion dollars (approximately 3.4 trillion won) in an open artificial intelligence (AI) startup founded by a former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

An official from existing investor Andreessen Horowitz stated that Thinking Machines Lab, led by founder and CEO Mira Murati, is seeking to raise 5 billion to 6 billion dollars with a pre-money valuation of at least 40 billion dollars (approximately 54.3 trillion won).

It is known that Nvidia will invest about half of this investment round, which is led by venture capital Accel Partners.

This is an extension of Nvidia's consistent betting on the open AI camp.

Previously, Nvidia agreed to acquire Hugging Face, an open AI model sharing platform, for 12.9 billion dollars (approximately 17.5 trillion won). It also signed a 6 billion dollar (approximately 8.1 trillion won) technology and personnel contract with Poolside.

In March, it signed a multi-year 'gigawatt-scale' strategic partnership with Thinking Machines Lab, foreshadowing a large-scale investment.

Murati, the founder, has one more voting right than the combined votes of all other directors, according to a clause secured during previous fundraising.

The Information pointed out that this power, which can sway key matters such as acquisition proposals, executive dismissals, and compensation, could be a factor deterring some investors.

Thinking Machines Lab's desired pre-money valuation of 40 billion dollars is lower than the over 50 billion dollars it hoped for at the end of last year, but it is an exceptional level for a startup less than two years old.

With annualized revenue only in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the valuation multiple relative to revenue is very high. Previously, Thinking Machines Lab raised 2 billion dollars (approximately 2.7 trillion won) in July last year at a valuation of 10 billion dollars, with Nvidia also participating at the time.

Founded in February last year, Thinking Machines Lab has recruited many talents from OpenAI, launched its open AI model 'Inkling' in July this year, and also introduced voice AI products.

However, four co-founders have left in the past year, including Lilian Weng, who returned to OpenAI this summer, leaving only founder Murati and John Schulman.