OpenAI acquires AI personal finance startup Hiro Finance

OpenAI has acquired Hiro Finance, an AI-powered personal finance startup, in what appears to be an acquihire for financial planning expertise. The acquisition was announced by Hiro founder Ethan Bloch on Monday and confirmed by OpenAI to TechCrunch. Terms were not disclosed, and Hiro has never revealed its fundraising amounts. The startup will shut down operations on April 20 and delete all data from its servers by May 13. Bloch said Hiro employees will join him at OpenAI, though he did not specify the number. LinkedIn lists approximately 10 people associated with the company. Hiro launched its AI tool about five months ago, offering financial planning for consumers who entered salary, debt, and monthly cost data to model what-if scenarios. The startup was backed by fintech venture capital firm Ribbit, along with General Catalyst and Restive. Bloch previously founded Digit, a digital bank sold to Oportun in 2021 for more than $200 million according to Oportun. This marks another financial app acquisition for OpenAI as it expands ChatGPT's business finance capabilities. The company's focus on financial math expertise suggests potential specialized applications in financial planning.