Applications
OpenAI raises $6.6 billion in funds to accelerate AI drive
MUMBAI: This is one fund-raise which is likely to have an impact on several aspects of our lives, and even on the media and entertainment ecosystem globally. Despite a lot of naysayers about the spread and use of artificial intelligence, OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – announced on 2 October that it has completed a deal to raise over $6.6 billion in new funding, giving the company a valuation of $157 billion post money raise. The money will be used to accelerate its efforts to become the premier generative AI technology.
According to reports, among the companies which have committed to pump in the funds include: Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital, which led the round, Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, Tiger Global and MGX.
The latest fund raise clearly shows that the technology industry is continuing with its belief in artificial intelligence, despite the fact that its research and development is burning billions of dollars and concerns have been raised about its safety and its effectiveness. In fact, investments in artificial intelligence in AI startups had slowed down, even though tech leaders like Google, Amazon and Microsoft were going ahead unperturbed.
Reports have stated that the Sam Altman led OpenAI is on course to generate $3.6 billion this year, though its losses might end up at a massive $5 billion. Revenues are expected to treble by end next year. It has about 1,700 employees, adding more than 1,000 in the past nine months. It has also gone through some turbulence on the leadership level with chief scientist & cofounder Ilya Sutskever, CTO Mira Murati, chief research officer Bob McGrew, vice-president research Barret Zoph leaving or announcing their departures.
OpenAI which began as a non-profit, but was later converted to a capped-profit company by Altman is said to be undergoing a restructure to become a for-profit company, a commitment which it has made to investors. Timelines are however not clear.
The company made a post on its website. Read on to know what it said:
We are making progress on our mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. Every week, over 250 million people around the world use ChatGPT to enhance their work, creativity, and learning. Across industries, businesses are improving productivity and operations, and developers are leveraging our platform to create a new generation of applications. And we’re only getting started.
We’ve raised $6.6B in new funding at a $157B post-money valuation to accelerate progress on our mission. The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems.
We aim to make advanced intelligence a widely accessible resource. We’re grateful to our investors for their trust in us, and we look forward to working with our partners, developers, and the broader community to shape an AI-powered ecosystem and future that benefits everyone. By collaborating with key partners, including the US and allied governments, we can unlock this technology’s full potential.
(Pix: courtesy open AI)
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
