Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Declares Its Holdings In ChatGPT’s OpenAI

Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment has been actively betting on the crypto and AI space, and in its latest disclosure, Ark Invest. disclosed its holdings in ChatGPT’s parent firm OpenAI.

Ark Invest’s OpenAI Investment Disclosure

On Thursday, April 10, Ark Invest informed its clients that its $54 million VC fund – Ark Venture fund – has made an investment in OpenAI. Describing OpenAI as a pioneer in the rapidly expanding field of artificial intelligence capability, the tech-focused asset manager expressed its confidence in the company’s potential.

Established in September 2022, the Ark fund operates as a closed-end investment vehicle, engaging in investments across public and private companies. Among its portfolio are notable entities such as SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, Epic Games Inc., Freenome Holdings Inc., and Relation Therapeutics. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ark Chief Futurist and investment committee member Brett Winton said:

“Our fund is relatively new and small and for us, honestly, the incremental progress in the foundation model space has been quicker than even we had anticipated. We think that there’s $16 trillion in prospective market cap that will be commanded by foundation model-type companies by 2030.”

Betting on the ‘Sora Model’

OpenAI has continued to bring new innovation to the forefront with the latest being the introduction of a powerful new text-to-video generative AI tool Sora. Speaking on this development, Winton said: “The Sora model is mind-blowing. The acceleration in the pace of innovation is mind-blowing and so we wanted the exposure.”

He further added that the Ark Venture fund has 4% of its total holdings in OpenAI. Interestingly, Ark Invest has also invested in OpenAI rival Anthropic with nearly 5% of the fund’s exposure towards it.

During the peak of the pandemic, Ark Innovation ETF, one of Wood’s renowned investment vehicles, gained widespread attention for its substantial investments in companies like Tesla Inc. However, this year, the ETF has faced challenges due to a downturn in Tesla’s share price. Despite this, Ark Invest has been doubling down its position on Tesla making the most of the recent fall.

Primarily comprising private companies, around 80% of the fund’s total holdings are in the venture fund. Winton emphasized the daily updating of asset values to ensure fairness for everyday investors in Ark’s product.