"wooden Sister" announced to invest in AI (artificial intelligence) new giant OpenAI, optimistic about the AI industry to reshape the scientific and technological landscape.

Local time on April 11, Ark Investment CEO, well-known investor "wooden Sister" Casey Wood (Cathie Wood) funds announced that the Ark Venture Fund has invested in ChatGPT, Dall-E and Sora manufacturer OpenAI. However, the fund has not disclosed the size of its investment.

According to foreign media reports, Ark Investment said in an email sent to clients on the same day: "since April 10, 2024, the Ark Venture Fund has invested in OpenAI." OpenAI is at the forefront of the Cambrian explosion of AI capabilities. "

The Ark Venture Fund, a $54 million venture fund owned by Ark Investment, was established in September 2022 to invest in public and private companies, including Elon Musk's SpaceX, game developer Epic Games, biotechnology company Freenome and drug discovery company Relation Therapeutics. AI start-up Anthropic, which is regarded as the "number one competitor" of OpenAI, and Figure AI, a humanoid robot startup that has attracted a lot of attention recently, are also on the position list.

Brett Winton, Ark's chief futurist and member of the investment committee, says positions in OpenAI account for about 4 per cent of the fund's total positions. The Ark Venture Fund's position in Anthropic accounts for about 5% of the total position.

"our fund is relatively new and small," says Mr Winton. To be honest, the progress in the field of basic models has even exceeded our expectations. We believe that by 2030, the potential market capitalization of basic model companies will reach $16 trillion. "

Ark also said it invested in OpenAI through a special purpose vehicle, but declined to give further details. OpenAI could not be reached for comment.

The investment in OpenAI may also mean that Ark Investments is looking for change. Ark Innovation ETF, the company's most famous investment vehicle, was known for investing heavily in companies such as Tesla during the outbreak, but the ETF also suffered a setback as Tesla's share price fell this year.

According to Winton, the ark venture fund is mainly made up of private companies, accounting for about 80% of the total positions. In order to provide the fairest price to day-to-day investors, the asset value of the Ark Venture Fund is updated daily.

Referring to OpenAI's recently released Sora, a Wensheng video AI tool, Winton said: "Sora is amazing. The pace of innovation is accelerating, which is shocking, so we want to invest in it. "

In recent years, OpenAI, regarded as the darling of Silicon Valley, has raised huge amounts of money, most of it from its partner Microsoft, which is reported to have invested 13 billion dollars in OpenAI.

Just this week, it was reported that OpenAI, as an extension of a recent tender offer valued at $86 billion, had informed some former employees to allow7seascasinobingoThey decided whether to sell the shares before April 15. The deal will be led by Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm led by Josh Kushner.

OpenAI's shares are reported to be valued at $150 a share (currently about 1085 yuan) in the latest offer, while OpenAI's shares were valued at $67 (currently about 485 yuan) in the offer that ended early last year. It is not clear why the company's valuation has risen more than the price per share. Evan Epstein, a law professor at the University of California, San Francisco, said it may be because the company's valuation is based on its preferred stock, which is usually priced higher than employee-owned common stock.