Latest news with #JasonKwon
Arabian Post
12-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
OpenAI Pursues Global Backers for $40bn AI Push
OpenAI is holding discussions with a range of international investors—including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Reliance Industries of India, and Abu Dhabi's MGX—to raise around $40 billion in fresh equity. The move marks a pivotal effort to underwrite its ambitious next-generation AI models and the expansive Stargate infrastructure initiative. The round is being led by Japan's SoftBank, which aims to shepherd significant capital into artificial intelligence advancements. At the centre of these discussions is the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, known for channeling billions into transformative technologies. Simultaneously, Reliance Industries and MGX are in separate talks to contribute 'hundreds of millions' each, according to individuals familiar with the negotiations. This depth of interest underscores a broader trend among sovereign wealth funds and major corporations to secure stakes in frontier AI ventures. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has pursued diplomatic and investment channels to fortify the company's capital base. Earlier this year he met India's IT Minister to explore the establishment of a low-cost, India-focused AI ecosystem. His itinerary also includes plans for Abu Dhabi visits aimed at deepening engagement with MGX around funding prospects. ADVERTISEMENT Beyond these players, OpenAI is also courting U.S.-based investors such as Coatue Management and Founders Fund, each reportedly targeted for at least $100 million. The company is aiming to raise a further $17 billion by 2027, in addition to this current round. The fundraising drive is instrumental to advancing both OpenAI's model development and a major infrastructure plan known as Stargate. The project is intended to supercharge compute capacity and facilitate the training of increasingly large-scale AI models. Under SoftBank's leadership, it represents one of the largest investment efforts in AI to date. Critically, this capital will be deployed to strengthen OpenAI's global presence, particularly in emerging AI hubs like India and the Gulf region. In addition to funding talks, the company has launched its first overseas arm, OpenAI Academy India, designed to support the IndiaAI Mission and deliver AI training to students, government officials, educators, developers and non-profits. OpenAI's expansion in India includes enhanced API credit grants to organisations such as Rocket Learning, Noora Health and Udhyam. These grants aim to catalyse the deployment of AI-powered applications in healthcare, early learning, agriculture, and disability inclusion. Jason Kwon, OpenAI's Chief Strategy Officer, highlighted that the company now counts India among its top 10 developer markets and that the country has the second-largest user base for ChatGPT globally. The confluence of sovereign wealth funds, national conglomerates and tech-led private investors reflects a maturing AI funding landscape. Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have already made headlines investing heavily in chipmakers and AI startups, positioning themselves as strategic backers in the AI arms race. Meanwhile, India's Reliance Industries, which already has stakes in digital and tech ventures, is extending its scope into foundational AI infrastructure—a move aligned with national ambitions to build an affordable AI ecosystem. ADVERTISEMENT International analysts emphasise that OpenAI's outreach is both tactical and symbolic. Tactically, the funds would finance compute-heavy model training and accelerate the rollout of upcoming offerings, including multimodal systems and enterprise-focused AI. Symbolically, alignment with global strategic funds lends political heft and market validation—especially important as competitors like Google DeepMind and Meta scale their AI capabilities. While conversations remain ongoing and non-binding, the inclusion of diverse investors signals a shift from U.S.-centric tech financing models. One source detailed that each of these investors could commit 'hundreds of millions' toward the fundraising total, reinforcing OpenAI's ambitions for capital depth and geographic investment breadth. OpenAI's reliance on SoftBank as lead investor highlights the Japanese group's role in shaping AI's future commercial landscape. SoftBank, which has invested heavily in robotics, AI, and semiconductor startups, would likely coordinate the round and manage investor relations across jurisdictions. Market observers note that the desire to raise $17 billion additional capital by 2027 reflects OpenAI's long-term strategy: to remain at the forefront of AI research and deployment. As AI models grow in complexity and scale, compute infrastructure becomes one of the largest cost drivers, requiring continual investment. Critics caution that the convergence of global capital and strategic interests may expose AI developers to external influence or geopolitical pressure. However, supporters argue that diversified investment reduces dependency on any single market or regulatory regime.
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Business Standard
12-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
OpenAI eyes India, Saudi, UAE backing in $40 billion AI funding round
ChatGPT creator OpenAI is in discussions with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), India's Reliance Industries, and existing investor MGX from the United Arab Emirates as part of its ongoing $40 billion fundraising efforts, according to a report by The Information on Wednesday. The report said these investors could each contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the round. Stargate project and next-gen AI models drive funding push The fundraising drive is aimed at supporting OpenAI's next phase of model development and the ambitious infrastructure initiative dubbed 'Stargate'. The effort is being led by Japanese investment giant SoftBank. Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman held a meeting with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to discuss the country's plans for a low-cost AI ecosystem. Following that, Altman reportedly intended to visit the UAE for further discussions with Abu Dhabi-based MGX about potential investments, Reuters reported. More global investors approached, $17 bn target by 2027 The Information report also noted that OpenAI has approached other potential investors such as Coatue Management and Founders Fund, seeking at least $100 million from each. Additionally, the company is projecting to secure a further $17 billion in funding by 2027. India poised to lead global AI stack, says Jason Kwon India is fast becoming a major force in the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape, according to OpenAI's Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Kwon. He highlighted that India now has the second-largest user base of ChatGPT and is among the top 10 countries worldwide in terms of developers building on OpenAI's APIs. 'With the vast and growing pool of AI talent, a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, and strong government support to expand the critical infrastructure, India is poised to succeed at all layers of the AI stack,' Kwon said during his visit to India last week. OpenAI Academy India expands AI education and skills Marking a significant milestone in its international outreach, OpenAI launched the OpenAI Academy India — the company's first overseas expansion of its educational initiative. The programme aims to support the IndiaAI Mission's 'FutureSkills' pillar by widening access to AI training across multiple segments including students, developers, educators, civil servants, nonprofit leaders, and small business owners, the company announced. New API grants fuel AI tools for social good in India Last week, OpenAI also announced a new round of API credit grants for 11 Indian non-profit organisations. The beneficiaries include Rocket Learning, Noora Health, and Udhyam, among others. The initiative is aimed at fostering the development of AI-powered tools that can drive social good. 'Over the last year, the India cohort has developed and deployed AI-powered applications across sectors, including healthcare, education, agriculture, disability inclusion, and gender equity, creating a tangible and measurable impact in underserved communities,' the company said in a statement. AI-powered apps transform early learning and patient care As part of OpenAI's global support program under the Academy, selected organisations receive hands-on technical assistance, cohort-based learning opportunities, and early access to OpenAI's tools. In India, Rocket Learning uses generative AI and WhatsApp to deliver personalised early learning experiences for parents and daycare providers. Noora Health works to improve patient outcomes by sharing life-saving information with caregivers and families.
Korea Herald
11-06-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
OpenAI CSO Kwon to visit S. Korea for AI partnership: sources
Jason Kwon, Chief Strategy Officer of OpenAI, will visit South Korea on Thursday for the second time in just over two weeks to explore partnerships in the artificial intelligence sector, industry sources said Wednesday. His upcoming visit comes just a week after the inauguration of President Lee Jae-myung, who has pledged to make South Korea one of the world's top three AI powerhouses through a 100 trillion-won ($73 billion) national investment initiative. During his previous visit on May 26, Kwon said OpenAI has established a Korean subsidiary and plans to open its third Asian office -- following Tokyo and Singapore -- in Seoul in the coming months. The move is part of OpenAI's broader global expansion. The developer of ChatGPT has launched 11 new offices in major cities in recent years, including Paris, Brussels, Singapore, London, Dublin and Tokyo. "OpenAI considers South Korea a key partner due to its high level of engagement with our services and sees strong potential for collaboration with Korean companies," an OpenAI official said. South Korea ranks among the top 10 countries globally in terms of ChatGPT users and developers using OpenAI platforms. In particular, it has the second-largest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers, following the United States. Even before formally entering the Korean market, OpenAI has collaborated with several major Korean companies, including internet giant Kakao Corp., game developer Krafton Inc. and mobile carrier SK Telecom Co., on AI technologies and data center development.
Hindustan Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
OpenAI eyes collaboration with India for data centres
OpenAI, which developed the artificial intelligence bot called ChatGPT, is in talks to partner with India under its 'OpenAI for Countries' initiative, a person familiar with the matter has said. 'OpenAI for Countries' is a new global initiative by the creator of ChatGPT to help interested national governments with efforts like building out data center capacity in coordination with the US government. OpenAI's chief strategy officer Jason Kwon, who is currently in Delhi, has been touring across Asia Pacific, covering countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and Singapore, meeting governments and potential private-sector partners to discuss opportunities within the 'OpenAI for Countries' initiative. The 'for Countries' initiative works in a two-way partnership between the US and another country. In its pilot project announced with UAE last month, the middle=east country will house a 1-gigawatt AI computing cluster called Stargate in Abu Dhabi, while also investing in similar AI infrastructure in the US as part of the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership. While details of the India-US partnership under the 'OpenAI for Countries' initiative remain undisclosed, the company's goal is to pursue 10 projects with individual countries or regions as the first phase of this initiative, and expand from there, said a company blog post. In a step towards 'cultivating AI talent' in India, OpenAI, in partnership with MeitY's IndiaAI Mission, launched 'OpenAI Academy' to give India's developer community and network of startups and innovators access to AI education and tools. The two also signed a memorandum of understanding, making it OpenAI's first international launch of its education platform. The MoU outlines seven joint initiatives, including OpenAI contributing educational content to IndiaAI Mission's FutureSkills platform to support digital skilling. The educational content will also be hosted on the iGOT Karmayogi platform to train government officials, initially in English and Hindi, and later in four regional languages. Additionally, OpenAI will conduct regular webinars and in-person workshops in six cities, and provide up to $100,000 in API credits to 50 IndiaAI-approved fellows or startups. The partnership also includes a series of hackathons across seven states, expected to reach around 25,000 students, with winners receiving invitations to attend OpenAI Dev Day events internationally. 'We believe the latest AI frameworks and tools must be made widely accessible so that our startups, developers, and researchers can build faster, better, and at scale,' IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a video message at the event.
Hans India
06-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
OpenAI Academy Set to Launch in India Under MoU with IndiaAI Mission
In a landmark move to strengthen AI education and innovation in India, OpenAI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian government's IndiaAI Mission to launch the OpenAI Academy—marking its first international rollout. As part of this collaboration, OpenAI and IndiaAI will jointly deliver curated artificial intelligence (AI) training content via the OpenAI Academy and the IndiaAI FutureSkills portal. These offerings will be accessible to a wide audience, including public sector professionals, in multiple languages—English, Hindi, and four regional languages—ensuring inclusivity in skill-building. Jason Kwon, Chief Strategy Officer at OpenAI, emphasized India's key role in the global AI landscape, stating, 'With the second-largest number of ChatGPT users, India ranks among the top countries actively building AI technologies.' Speaking at the launch event, Abhishek Singh, CEO of IndiaAI Mission, identified one of India's critical hurdles in AI development: access to computing power. 'This has been addressed by providing around 34,000 GPUs at affordable rates—less than a dollar per GPU hour—significantly lower than global prices,' he said. In addition to computational resources, Singh also spotlighted the AI Kosh platform, which offers a rich repository of datasets across sectors, along with essential tools, AI models, and a sandbox environment to encourage innovation. Through a virtual message, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw described the initiative as a milestone for the country. 'This partnership is a significant step towards advancing our shared goal of democratizing access to knowledge and technology,' he said. This launch follows Kwon's global tour to engage with international policymakers on responsible AI deployment and governance. The academy initiative in India is aligned with OpenAI's broader commitment to make AI education globally accessible and responsible. In a move reflecting its growing investment in the Indian market, OpenAI last month introduced local data residency for Indian users. This ensures that data from ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Edu, and the OpenAI API platform will now be stored within the country, addressing key regulatory and privacy concerns. Further expanding its impact, OpenAI also announced the extension of its AI for Impact Accelerator Program to India. As part of this phase, 11 nonprofit organizations in the country have been selected to receive API credits and technical grants totaling $150,000. This initiative is backed by philanthropic partners including The Agency Fund, Tech4Dev, and These selected nonprofits will gain access to hands-on technical mentorship, cohort-based learning programs, and early access to OpenAI tools—empowering them to develop AI-driven solutions for social challenges. By combining educational outreach, infrastructure support, and social impact investment, OpenAI's partnership with IndiaAI is poised to significantly boost India's AI capabilities, while also ensuring that AI development remains inclusive, ethical, and transformative.
