OpenAI has asked investors to avoid backing rival start-ups such as Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI, as it secures $6.6bn in new funding and seeks to shut out challengers to its early lead in generative artificial intelligence. The San Francisco-based group, led by chief executive Sam Altman, announced on Wednesday it had completed its latest fundraising at a $150bn valuation, the highest in Silicon Valley’s history. During the negotiations, the company made clear that it expected an exclusive funding arrangement, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. Seeking exclusive relationships with investors restricts rivals’ access to capital and strategic partnerships. The move by the maker of ChatGPT risks inflaming existing tensions with competitors, especially Musk, who is suing OpenAI. Venture firms are party to sensitive information about the companies they invest in, and close relationships with one company can make it difficult or contentious to also back a rival. But exclusivity is rarely insisted on, according to VCs, and many leading firms have spread their bets in certain sectors. Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, for instance, have backed multiple AI start-ups, including both OpenAI and Musk’s xAI. OpenAI can command unusual terms and an outsized valuation because investors believe the company could dominate the next wave of AI innovation, which they argue will be as significant a shift in consumer behaviour as the internet or mobile. “Because the round was so oversubscribed, OpenAI said to people: ‘We’ll give you allocation but we want you to be involved in a meaningful way in the business so you can’t commit to our competitors,’” according to one person with knowledge of the deal.

Full report : OpenAI has asked its investors to avoid backing rival startups such as Anthropic and xAI.