OpenAI $14 billion, Databricks $5.7 billion attract investments… leading the AI funding war

The AI(AI) boom shows no signs of fading at the end of the year. OpenAI is expected to receive up to $100 billion( approximately 144 trillion Korean won) in investment from Amazon, with its overall enterprise value reaching $75 trillion( approximately 1080 trillion Korean won). Meanwhile, Databricks also secured a record-breaking Series L funding of $4 billion( approximately 5.76 trillion Korean won), achieving a high valuation of $134 billion( approximately 193 trillion Korean won). Investors are openly optimistic about these two companies, while Oracle faces market distrust due to the loss of its core partners, creating a stark contrast.

Oracle’s $100 billion( approximately 10.08 trillion Korean won) data center project in Michigan, which failed to secure funding, was directly hit by a stock price plunge. However, AI demand is intensifying. Micron announced unexpectedly strong performance driven by explosive demand for high-bandwidth memory, further boosting market expectations.

Competition in AI model development continues. Google released a new lightweight model, Gemini 3 Flash, praised for its quick response and enhanced reasoning capabilities; OpenAI responded swiftly with the release of GPT Image 1.5, optimized for image editing. Nvidia unveiled the “NemoTron 3” model suite for autonomous AI agents, demonstrating its presence.

Industry transformation centered around AI is also influencing corporate mergers and acquisitions. ServiceNow is in negotiations to acquire cybersecurity startup Armis for $70 billion( approximately 10.08 trillion Korean won). However, some investors believe this decision is excessive, which has pressured its stock price.

The surge in energy demand is stimulating investments in nuclear technology. Radiant Industries, a radiation innovation company, is aiming for large-scale production of small modular reactors, raising $300 million( approximately 432 billion Korean won). In this trend, Trump’s media holding company, led by former President Trump, is also gaining attention for its merger with fusion startup TAE through a full stock swap valued at $60 billion( approximately 8.64 trillion Korean won).

Mergers and financing activities in the AI field continue unabated. Notably, Google’s autonomous driving subsidiary Waymo plans to raise an additional $150 billion( approximately 21.6 trillion Korean won), targeting a valuation of $1.1 trillion approximately 158.4 trillion Korean won.

Meanwhile, Amazon is restructuring its AI organization. Peter DeSantis, head of core infrastructure, will lead a new team integrating the Nova team with AI research, custom semiconductors, and quantum computing, succeeding Rohit Prasad, the current AI head, who will step down at the end of the year. This signals a fundamental reorganization of Amazon’s AI strategy.

In addition, various investment news are pouring in—from Anthropic’s attempt to standardize AI agents, Neural Concept’s $100 million funding for an “AI designer” platform, PolyAI’s $86 million investment in AI customer service, to Edison Scientific’s $70 million fundraising for an AI scientist platform—adding excitement to the market.

Development of new technologies supporting AI infrastructure is also active. Zoom released AI Companion 3.0, enhancing browser access and proxy automation; Adobe launched generative AI-based video director tools. Google is testing AI agents capable of summarizing emails, schedules, and documents.

As the wave of AI innovation centered on OpenAI and Databricks continues, the market has clearly indicated that AI is no longer just a future technology but the core technology of the present. Meanwhile, industry transformation around AI—spanning infrastructure, energy, security, and personnel organization—is spreading more deeply and broadly.