Many would argue that today marks the one-year anniversary of the investor frenzy for generative artificial intelligence startups. It was exactly this time last year that OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, one of the most transformative new tech products in recent history.
Investors had already gotten a taste for AI deals before then, thanks to breakthroughs by OpenAI and others. Then ChatGPT came along, lighting the fuse for dealmaking that transformed a stagnant funding market. Global AI startups raised $75 billion as of late November, according to PitchBook, nearly surpassing last year’s haul of $76 billion. OpenAI rivals like Anthropic raised big rounds and dozens of “wrappers,” startups that built a user interface on top of OpenAI, launched with steep valuations.
Then, suddenly, the party music stopped. The value of Silicon Valley’s crown jewel, OpenAI, nearly went to zero in one fateful weekend after OpenAI’s board fired CEO Sam Altman. The company managed to put itself back together, reinstating Altman, salvaging an $86 billion–valuation tender offer that’s poised to make many of its employees richer, and naming the first few appointments of a brand-new board. Still, OpenAI's near-death experience will inject a healthy dose of caution into venture capital fundraising negotiations, setting up 2024 to be a far more tempered year for AI investment.
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