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PitchBook News - Rewriting the rules at OpenAI

Also: Uncertain future for DEI and ESG, why VCs might want to stay in their lanes & more
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The Weekend Pitch
September 29, 2024
Presented by the U.S. National Science Foundation
OpenAI's Sam Altman
(Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images)
OpenAIwill soon look completely different from the way it did just a year ago..

Much of its core leadership has left the company: CTO Mira Murati announced her departure this week, following in the footsteps of co-founder Ilya Sutskever and followed by chief research officer Bob McGrew and VP of research Barret Zoph.

And as it targets the largest fundraise in VC history—$6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuation—its structure as a nonprofit principally governed by an independent board of directors is being rewritten. CEO Sam Altman could soon take an equity stake, multiplying his net worth. And the cap on returns to OpenAI’s investors could be scrapped, a major boon to early backers.

I'm Rosie Bradbury, and this is The Weekend Pitch. You can reach me at rosie.bradbury@pitchbook.com or on X @_RosieBradbury.

The gamble in reengineering OpenAI is this: Altman must secure the massive capital required to stay ahead of rivals like Anthropic, even if doing so means losing its top brass and reputation as a leader of responsible AI development.
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A message from the U.S. National Science Foundation  
Invention to impact
GRO Biosciences develops protein therapeutics to treat diseases like diabetes, growth disorders, and autoimmunity by utilizing computational protein design and synthetic biology. They recently raised $60 million. GRO Biosciences (NSF-2024671) is one of the hundreds of deep tech startups funded annually by the U.S. National Science Foundation, a government agency that plays a central role in accelerating discoveries into the marketplace.

Each startup can receive up to $2 million to support translational research & development. By investing more than $250 million in startups annually, NSF helps teams navigate the earliest stages of technology translation. These companies have gone on to raise billions in follow-on capital, and the portfolio has had 300+ exits. Learn more about NSF funding at seedfund.nsf.gov/next/.
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Trivia
Mira Murati, the latest high-profile exit from OpenAI
(OpenAI/YouTube)
Mira Murati became the latest high profile exit from OpenAI, joining a long list of key players who have departed. Nearly a year ago Murati was appointed interim CEO following the abrupt ouster of Sam Altman. What was Murati’s title?

A) Chief creative officer
B) Lead research head
C) Chief technology officer
D) Head scientist

Find your answer at the bottom of The Weekend Pitch!
 

Are ESG and DEI
investing really dead?
(Getty Images)
Perception can be different from reality. While the ESG and impact investing spaces are fraught with controversy, our fifth annual Sustainable Investment Survey report shows that practitioners are leaning into their investment approaches in new and innovative ways.

With over 1,000 global respondents, including asset owners, VC and PE GPs, and family offices, the survey reveals a number of trends—including a desire to move away from the term "ESG" and a shift toward ESG implementation among both VC and non-VC fund managers.
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Jack of all trades?
Think twice about VC
(Getty Images)
VCs who stick to their domain expertise when investing in startups have generated better outcomes, according to our latest analyst note.

Using an AI-powered model, our analysts found that startups whose lead investors had a high level of expertise in a particular sector were 1.2 times more likely to have a successful exit than companies backed by generalist VCs. This has been especially important at the early stage and in highly technical areas like pharma and healthtech.
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Quote/Unquote
"Partners ask us, 'hey, do you want to come into the deal?' And we say, 'yes we do and also, we want to bring a third party with us,' and they say, 'what the heck is this?'"

—Margot Wirth, director of private equity at Calstrs, commenting on the pension’s elimination of a rule requiring third-party approval on co-investment deals valued below $250 million. You can read more about that rule change here.
 

Stay tuned
Keep an eye out for these insights and research reports coming out this week:
  • Q2 2024 Middle Market Retail Report
  • Q3 2024 Global PE First Look
  • Q3 2024 Venture Monitor First Look
  • September 2024 Global Markets Snapshot
  • Analyst Note: European Unicorns--Modeling Myth or Magic?
  • Analyst Note: US Presidential Election Cheat Sheet
 

Trivia
Answer: C

Mira Murati was OpenAI’s chief technology officer. She joins a long list of high-profile exits including chief scientist Illya Sutskever. You can read more about those departures here.

This edition of The Weekend Pitch was written by Madeline Shi and Jacob Robbins. It was edited by James Thorne and Ron Prichard.

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