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This column is a look back at the week that was in AI. Read the previous one here.

While reports have been swirling for weeks now, it is still somewhat difficult to wrap one’s head around ’s reported new valuation of $150 billion.

Not only does it make the startup one of the most valuable private companies in the world, the round seems to keep going up in size the more it’s reported. It now seems to sit at what would be a $6.5 billion round at a mind-blowing , with investors such as , , , , and Abu Dhabi-based MGX participating.

However, it is obviously that is getting the most of the attention, leading the round with plans to commit $1 billion.

The New York-based investment firm, co-founded by , has been around for a decade and a half — with its last three funds totaling $6 billion.

While it has had numerous successful exits — including , and (just this year) — the firm keeps a rather low profile and sometimes can be overlooked in mentions of VC giants.

However, as its funds have grown so has the number of rounds — and their sizes — it is willing to participate in.

Thrive, like almost all firms, has significantly pulled back on its investment cadence from 2021 — which saw it invest in more than a dozen startups quarterly — but is still investing in a good number of startups and in huge rounds.

The firm already has taken part in nearly 20 funding deals this year, per SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ — including some of the biggest. That includes co-leading cloud security startup ’s $1 billion round at a $12 billion valuation — the biggest cybersecurity round of the year thus far.

In addition, Thrive took part in ’s $1 billion in a Series F round led by that valued the data labeling and evaluation startup at a stunning $13.8 billion in May, and it also took part in AI-enhanced pharma company ’s $372 million Series D led by in May.

Of course, it also led OpenAI’s secondary offering in February at an $80 billion valuation.

None of those rounds caused Thrive to write as big a check as it will have to for the new OpenAI deal — but it’s unlikely it will feel uncomfortable doing so as it continues its march of big deals.

Things that caught our eye and other stuff:

• Of course, OpenAI is not the only company in the sector watching their valuation rise. It was reported late last week AI cloud infrastructure startup is in talks to sell existing shares that would value it at $23 billion, . In May, the startup was valued at $19 billion after locking up a $1.1 billion round, and just last December was valued at $7 billion after a secondary sale. That means in about nine months the company’s valuation has more than tripled. CoreWeave’s investors include  and — who likely are pretty happy right now.
• Not to be outdone, AI-enhanced work assistant and enterprise search engine also saw its value shoot up last week. Less than seven months after raising a more than $200 million Series D at a $2.2 billion valuation, the startup raised more than $260 million in a Series E funding at a $4.6 billion valuation co-led by and . The Palo Alto, California-based startup hit unicorn status just in May 2023 after raising a $100 million Series C led by .

Related reading:

• No One Gushes About Govtech, But It Can Produce Some Nice Returns
• Cloud Security Firm Wiz Raises $1B At $12B Valuation
• Scale AI Raises $1B In Accel-Led Round; Hits $13.8B Valuation
• AI Cloud Infrastructure Startup CoreWeave Raises Huge New Round At Reported $19B Valuation
• CoreWeave Valuation At $7B After Secondary Sale
• AI-Powered Work Assistant Glean Grabs $200M At $2.2B Valuation
• AI-Powered Work Assistant Glean Doubles Valuation To $4.6B In Less Than Seven Months
• AI Startup World Labs Launches With $230M From Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia’s Venture Arm

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