Shark Tank star and investor Kevin O’Leary revealed that he is considering an investment in ChatGPT ahead of the parent company OpenAI’s next round of funding. The company was valued at $29 billion during an early January funding round, during which Microsoft injected a $10 billion investment. Microsoft hopes to integrate ChatGPT with its Bing search engine.
“I am very fortunate to be offered to take down some equity, but it’s a $29 billion valuation with virtually no revenue… I’m looking at it,” O’Leary cautiously stated. While unsure of the company’s valuation, the Shark Tank cast member did reveal that he would look to purchase a 1% share in ChatGPT.
For O’Leary, there are two main justifications for taking a leap of faith in the revolutionary new software. Firstly, the platform’s rapid growth in new subscribers came to the seasoned investor’s attention, with the platform crossing the 100 million user mark in January. Secondly, O’Leary is attracted to the recurring revenue model adopted by ChatGPT, with some of his own employees subscribing to the $20 per month premium ChatGPT service.