Altman is hoping to gain their participation in a round that could take in at least $50 billion, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (Jan. 21), citing unnamed sources.
Altman visited the region to meet with investors, including some of the top state-sponsored funds in Abu Dhabi, the report said. If OpenAI raises $50 billion or more, the startup would be valued at $750 billion to $830 billion.
The company has raised billions of dollars in recent years to fund the cost of acquiring chips, building data centers and attracting talent, according to the report. The as-yet-unprofitable company has committed to spending over $1.4 trillion on AI infrastructure in the years ahead.
Other high-profile AI companies, such as xAi and Anthropic, have also sought funding from investors in the Middle East, the report said. OpenAI has already received investment from MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based tech investment firm, and has collaborated with G42 to construct a massive data center in the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are racing to build data centers at scale as the countries vie for AI supremacy in their region, PYMNTS reported last year.
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In other OpenAI news, the company is reportedly working to expand the reach of its products in countries without widespread AI access. The company’s “OpenAI for Countries” program is designed to push governments to construct more data centers and lobby for greater AI use in areas such as health, education and disaster preparedness.
Meanwhile, new findings from the World Economic Forum showed that Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are emerging as early leaders in the practical use of agentic AI, moving from testing of the technology to scaled use more quickly than many peers.
The WEF pointed to evidence that 19% of GCC organizations have already gone beyond pilot programs into full implementation, fueled by a combination of unified national AI strategies, robust executive sponsorship and regulatory alignment.
“Rather than replacing human roles, agentic AI systems are shifting work toward higher-value activities, with humans increasingly focused on judgment, oversight, ethics and relationship management while AI agents handle verification, monitoring and routine decision-making,” PYMNTS reported Monday (Jan. 19).
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