Sept 27 (Reuters) - Thrive Capital is investing more

than $1 billion of OpenAI's current $6.5 billion fundraising

round, and it has a sweetener no other investors are getting:

the potential to invest another $1 billion next year at the same

valuation if the AI firm hits a revenue goal, people familiar

with the matter said on Friday.

OpenAI is predicting its revenue will skyrocket to $11.6

billion next year from an estimated $3.7 billion in 2024, the

sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Losses are

expected to be as much as $5 billion this year, depending

largely on their spending for computing power that could change,

one of the sources added.

The current funding round, which comes in the form of

convertible debt, is expected to close by the end of next week

and could value OpenAI at $150 billion, cementing its status as

one of the most valuable private companies in the world.

That valuation depends on pulling off a complicated

restructuring to remove the control of its non-profit board and

also remove cap on investment return to investors, a plan first

reported by Reuters. There is no specific timeline when the

conversion could be completed.

Thrive Capital, which also led OpenAI's previous funding

round, is offering $1.2 billion from a combination of its own

fund and a special purpose vehicle for smaller investors. Other

investors on the new round include Microsoft ( MSFT ), Apple ( AAPL )

, Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Khosla Ventures.

The others were not given the option for future investment

at current price, sources said. OpenAI's valuation has soared

quickly, and if it continues to do so, Thrive could find itself

increasing its stake next year at a discounted price.

Reuters was not able to determine the revenue target

associated with the option for Thrive, which was founded by

Joshua Kushner.

Thrive and OpenAI declined to comment.

OpenAI's revenue expectations far exceed CEO Sam Altman's

earlier projection of $1 billion in revenue this year. The main

revenue sources are sales of its services to corporations and

subscriptions to its chatbot.

Its flagship product, ChatGPT, is expected to bring in $2.7

billion in revenue this year, jumping from $700 million in 2023.

The chatbot service, which charges a $20 fee every month, has

about 10 million paying users.

The financials and details about Thrive's additional option

were first reported by the New York Times on Friday.