Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Funding Round 

Microsoft-backed OpenAI has sought to raise as much as $100 billion in an effort to pay for its ambitious growth plans in a market that has ebbed recently on the AI boom, the Wall Street Journal's Kate Clark and Berber Jin reported. The latest funding round for the ChatGPT maker, which has been in the early stages, could value it at as high as $830 billion if it raises the full amount it is aiming for, the authors said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The AI company seeks to complete the round by the end of Q1 at the earliest, the authors added, noting that the terms of the deal could still change and it is unclear whether there will be sufficient shareholder demand to reach the target. OpenAI is anticipated to recruit sovereign wealth funds to participate in the funding, given the scale, the authors stated.

OpenAI, DoE Sign Memorandum of Understanding 

OpenAI and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen the collaboration on AI and advanced computing in support of DoE initiatives, including the Genesis Mission. This work is part of OpenAI for Science, an effort to help scientists accelerate discovery by pairing frontier AI models with the tools, workflows, and expertise of real research environments.

"This MOU builds on OpenAI's existing work with DOE's national laboratories, where we've already deployed frontier models in real research environments and worked directly with scientists on high-impact problems," the company said.

OpenAI also submitted detailed recommendations to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on how the United States can strengthen science and technology leadership through AI. That filing outlined why the company sees 2026 as a "Year of Science," and why access to frontier AI models, compute, and real research environments is essential to accelerating discovery, it added.

This announcement followed the recent Genesis Mission event at the White House, where Kevin Weil, Vice President of OpenAI for Science, joined DoE and other partners.

ChatGPT Licenses 

OpenAI sold more than 700,000 ChatGPT licenses to about 35 public universities for use by students and faculty, Bloomberg's Brody Ford and Liam Knox reported.

Students and faculty used ChatGPT more than 14 million times in September, with each user calling on it 176 times that month for help with tasks such as writing, research, and data analysis, according to the report, which added that OpenAI sold "well over a million" licenses to colleges globally, with schools willing to purchase bulk access to ChatGPT paying a few dollars per user per month.

Meanwhile, Microsoft, which typically bundles its Copilot assistant with existing software, experienced more "measured" uptake of its AI tool at these schools, Ford and Knox added.

H200 Chip Sales 

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration launched a review that may end with allowing Nvidia's (NVDA) H200 chips to be shipped to China, Alexandra Alper of Reuters reported, citing five sources.

Trump said earlier this month that he would allow the sales of the chips to China, with the U.S. collecting a 25% fee, believing the sales would help keep U.S. firms ahead of Chinese chipmakers by cutting demand in China. Questions still remain over how quickly the U.S. may approve of the sales and whether Beijing would allow Chinese firms to purchase the chips.

New AI Model 

Meta Platforms (META) has been working on a new image and video-focused AI model code-named Mango alongside the Facebook parent's next text-based large language model, the Wall Street Journal's Meghan Bobrowsky reported.

In an internal company Q&A on Thursday, Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang discussed the AI models with chief product officer Chris Cox, the author said, citing people who heard the remarks. The models are anticipated to be released in the first half of 2026, the author noted.

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