OpenAI Secures Record-Breaking $40 Billion Funding, Valuation Soars to $300 Billion

OpenAI raises $40B at $300B post-money valuation

OpenAI on Monday announced that it closed one of the largest private funding rounds in history. According to a blog post on the company's website, OpenAI raised $40 billion in a tranche that values the company at $300 billion post-money. SoftBank led the round, CNBC reported. Other participants included Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive. "[This] enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week," OpenAI wrote in the blog post. "We're excited to be working in partnership with SoftBank Group -- few companies understand how to scale transformative technology like they do."

OpenAI just raised another $40 billion round led by SoftBank

OpenAI is set to receive $10 billion up front (SoftBank will invest $7.5 billion along with $2.5 billion "from an investor syndicate," according to Bloomberg). The remaining $30 billion is slated to arrive by year's end, CNBC reported -- but only if it officially converts into a for-profit company by then. If not, it reportedly stands to lose a quarter of the deal. The funding comes just a few months after OpenAI announced Stargate, a $500 billion joint venture with backing from SoftBank, Oracle, and the Abu Dhabi fund MGX to build out massive AI datacenters over the next four years. The company has been in a full sprint lately: On Monday, CEO Sam Altman posted that OpenAI gained 1 million users in a single hour in large part thanks to a new feature called Images in ChatGPT that went viral due to its ability to produce Studio Ghibli inspired AI art. Altman also announced on Wednesday that the company would "release a powerful new open-weight language model with reasoning in the coming months." The funding announcement claims that ChatGPT serves 500 million people every week.

OpenAI Finalizes $40 Billion Funding at $300 Billion Valuation

OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, said it has finalized a funding round that will bring in $40 billion from SoftBank Group Corp. and other investors at a $300 billion valuation, including money raised. The AI developer's financing round is the largest of all time, according to data compiled by research firm PitchBook. The deal values the ChatGPT maker at almost double its previous valuation of $157 billion when it raised money in October. Bloomberg reported on March 26 that OpenAI was close to buttoning up the $40 billion financing deal.

OpenAI to raise $40 billion in SoftBank-led new funding round

March 31 (Reuters) - OpenAI said on Monday it would raise $40 billion in a new funding round led by SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab at a $300 billion valuation to advance AI research, expand computational infrastructure and enhance its AI tools. Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O), opens new tab OpenAI said it looks to deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week. Investor enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence sector has surged significantly in recent years, driven by widespread adoption of chatbots and the emergence of sophisticated AI agents. Enterprises have integrated AI solutions to streamline their operations and enhance customer experiences, while venture capital firms compete to back promising AI startups. The market has particularly accelerated since late 2022 with the launch of AI tools like ChatGPT. OpenAI had closed a $6.6 billion funding round in October, which valued the company at $157 billion. With the latest funding, OpenAI will join the ranks of the most valuable private companies such as SpaceX, China's ByteDance and Stripe. Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI secures $300bn valuation after $40bn SoftBank-led funding round

OpenAI has raised $40bn in new funding from SoftBank and other investors, valuing the ChatGPT maker at $300bn as it becomes one of the best-funded private start-ups in the world. SoftBank was providing 75 per cent of the funding, according to one person familiar with the finances, while 25 per cent would be contributed by additional investors including Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital and Thrive Capital. The Financial Times first reported SoftBank's investment. The financing would be provided in two parts, an initial $10bn with the following $30bn to be invested by the end of 2025, the person familiar added. The latest funding comes as the San Francisco-based company transforms from a complex non-profit structure into a more conventional for-profit company. This conversion is required to be completed by the end of this year, or SoftBank has the option to reduce its total contribution to $20bn, one person familiar with the round said. The post-money valuation of $300bn would rank OpenAI as the 27th biggest company in the S&P 500, were it to be listed today, reflecting the exuberance towards the artificial intelligence sector. That would make it larger than oil major Chevron and slightly smaller than Coca-Cola. OpenAI most recently raised $6.6bn in October at a valuation of $157bn. "This investment helps us push the frontier and make AI more useful in everyday life," OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's founder, described AI as a "defining force shaping humanity's future" and that the Japanese company's "expanded partnership with OpenAI accelerates our shared vision to unlock its full potential". Earlier on Monday, OpenAI announced that it would release a so-called open-weights AI model in the coming months, as it contends with fierce competition from rival open models from China's DeepSeek and Meta's Llama. A cheaper and more accessible model would represent a shift from OpenAI's traditional approach of charging users and enterprises through subscriptions to products, such as ChatGPT, and developers through access to its application programming interface. "We've been thinking about this for a long time, but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do," Altman said in an X post on Monday. Open-weights models provide details on how the systems function -- the so-called weights -- and make basic code publicly available so that developers can run the model for their own use cases. They represent a more limited version of open-source models, which provide fuller information, such as data sets and the code needed to fully train a model from scratch. Open models are typically cheaper to use and can be customised for specific use cases. The company did not provide details on how it might monetise the open model, which could be through customisation or commercial licensing. Chinese start-up DeepSeek caused shockwaves earlier this year when it released its R1 open-weights model. The program displayed advanced capabilities, including reasoning, where it would think through queries and process them in more detail, but was apparently developed at a much lower cost than other leading edge AI programs from Silicon Valley. In a Reddit post days after DeepSeek's release, Altman said he believed OpenAI had "been on the wrong side of history" and "need[ed] to figure out a different open source strategy".

OpenAI closes $40 billion funding round, largest private tech deal on record

Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, during a fireside chat organized by Softbank Ventures Asia in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, June 9, 2023. OpenAI on Monday announced it had closed what amounts to the largest private tech funding round on record. The $40 billion financing values the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, including the fresh capital. It's nearly three times the amount previously raised by a private tech company, according to PitchBook. The valuation puts OpenAI behind only SpaceX at $350 billion and even with TikTok parent ByteDance among the world's most richly valued private companies, according to CB Insights. Japan's SoftBank is leading the round with $30 billion, and is joined by a syndicate of other backers, including core investor Microsoft as well as Coatue, Altimeter and Thrive. OpenAI said it plans use the fresh capital to "push the frontiers of AI research even further" and scale its compute infrastructure, according to a blog post. About $18 billion of the funding is expected to be used for OpenAI's commitment to Stargate, the person familiar with the matter told CNBC. The joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle was announced by President Donald Trump in January. The initial funding will be $10 billion, followed by the remaining $30 billion by the end of 2025, the person said. But the round comes with a caveat. It could be slashed by as much as $10 billion if the company doesn't restructure into a for-profit entity by Dec. 31, CNBC confirmed earlier on Monday. The provision ramps up pressure on OpenAI to pull off the for-profit conversion, a plan that will need the blessing of Microsoft and the California Attorney General, and has been challenged in court by Elon Musk, who was one of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, when it was started as a non-profit research lab. The company's current and unusual hybrid structure includes a capped-profit limited partnership created in 2019. The original nonprofit is the controlling shareholder and would be spun out as an independent entity if the company can restructure. OpenAI's venture backers have received convertible notes that would turn into equity.

OpenAI Closes Deal That Values Company at $300 billion

Sign up for the On Tech newsletter. Get our best tech reporting from the week. Get it sent to your inbox. OpenAI said on Monday that it had completed a $40 billion fund-raising deal that nearly doubles the high-profile company's valuation from just six months ago. The new fund-raising round, led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, values OpenAI at $300 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world, along with the rocket company SpaceX and ByteDance, the maker of TikTok. OpenAI started the artificial intelligence boom in late 2022 with the release of its online chatbot, ChatGPT. Its latest investment round indicates that the tech industry's excitement over A.I. remains strong, even amid concerns about the effectiveness and safety of the rapidly improving technology. "This investment helps us push the frontier and make A.I. more useful in everyday life," Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, said in a statement to The New York Times. The company also said that 500 million people are actively using ChatGPT each week -- up from 400 million in late February -- and that 20 million people are paying to use more advanced versions of the chatbot. The new investment will be made in two parts, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity. An initial $10 billion will arrive immediately, with another $30 billion arriving by the end of the year, the person said. SoftBank Group is providing 75 percent of the total, with the rest coming from other investors, including Microsoft, Thrive Capital, Coatue and Altimeter, the person said. Microsoft and Thrive Capital led previous investment rounds in OpenAI. Mr. Altman helped create OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, along with Tesla's chief executive, Elon Musk, and several others. In 2018, after Mr. Musk left the organization after a battle for control, Mr. Altman attached OpenAI to a for-profit company so he could raise the billions of dollars needed to build artificial intelligence technologies. But the nonprofit retained control of the company. Last year, Mr. Altman and his company began working on a plan to shift control of the company from the nonprofit to OpenAI's investors as a for-profit company. Soon after, Mr. Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Mr. Altman, claiming they had breached the company's founding contract by putting commercial interests ahead of the public good. OpenAI plans to move control of the company to a Public Benefit Corporation, or P.B.C., which is a for-profit corporation designed to create public and social good. If this shift is not completed by the end of the year, SoftBank would have the option to reduce its total contribution to $20 billion, said a person familiar with the latest investment deal. Earlier this year, Mr. Musk and a consortium of investors escalated his longstanding feud with Mr. Altman by offering to buy for more than $97 billion the assets of the nonprofit that controls OpenAI. OpenAI's board of directors rejected the bid. But the bid could still complicate Mr. Altman's efforts to separate the company from the nonprofit board and raise the billions of dollars that OpenAI needs to build new technologies. (The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. The two companies have denied the suit's claims.)

Huge OpenAI funding round hinges on shedding nonprofit status

The ChatGPT maker is raising $40 billion, but it won't get all of that money unless it transitions into a for-profit company SAN FRANCISCO -- ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced a massive new funding round Monday, raising $40 billion in a deal that values the artificial intelligence company at $300 billion -- but there's a catch. OpenAI must shed its status as a nonprofit and transition itself into a fully for-profit company by the end of 2025 if it wants to unlock all of that money, a person familiar with the deal's terms said. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is providing $30 billion of the $40 billion funding, but will cut its investment to $20 billion if OpenAI doesn't complete the restructuring, the person said. The $300 billion valuation OpenAI now has makes it one of the most valuable private companies in history, worth about the same as publicly traded corporate giants such as Coca-Cola, Chevron and T-Mobile. Chevron had around $190 billion in revenue in 2024, while OpenAI had a reported revenue of $3.7 billion, underlining how investors are willing to give AI companies big valuations in the hope that the technology will continue to grow in importance and value in the coming years. The deal terms also highlight how high the stakes are for OpenAI as it tries to evolve from its roots as a nonprofit meant to build AI to benefit all of humanity into a for-profit company trying to stay ahead in the vicious competition to control the future of AI. Microsoft and venture capital firms Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive also participated in the funding round. OpenAI's efforts to restructure into a more traditional company have been a consistent source of complications for the company even as it skyrocketed to the top of the tech industry over the past three years. In November 2023, its CEO, Sam Altman, was fired by its nonprofit board, which accused him of keeping information from the board. He was rehired days later after the company's investors and employees mounted a campaign to bring him back. The company is currently fighting a legal battle with billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, who helped fund and start OpenAI in 2015 and is now accusing Altman of ditching OpenAI's original mission to enrich himself. Musk has an AI company of his own, xAI, which competes with OpenAI. The company denies the allegations and argues that it will maintain a for-profit arm that will be extremely well funded. OpenAI's new funding round comes just months after it raised $6.6 billion at a valuation of $150 billion, showing the huge appetite for new funding that AI companies have as they strain to pay the bills for the energy-intensive data centers they need to train and run their technology. OpenAI and SoftBank announced in January a new initiative called Stargate which calls for $500 billion in spending on new AI data centers over the next four years. Elon Musk said last week that xAI is now worth $80 billion and Bloomberg reported earlier this month that AI search start-up Perplexity is in talks to raise money at a valuation of $18 billion. The funding round also cements SoftBank as OpenAI's key corporate partner. Until recently, OpenAI's most important relationship was with Microsoft, which had been its biggest investor in previous rounds and also distributed OpenAI's products to its thousands of cloud computing customers. But the two companies have been drifting apart in recent months as OpenAI seeks to diversify its funding sources.

Sam Altman's OpenAI eyes $300 billion valuation for $40 billion funds

OpenAI logo on the website displayed on a phone screen and ChatGPT on AppStore. OpenAI announced on Monday that it would raise up to $40 billion in a new funding round led by Japan's SoftBank Group. The round values the artificial intelligence company at an estimated $300 billion, with the funds aimed at advancing AI research, expanding computing infrastructure, and improving AI tools. SoftBank confirmed in a statement that it would provide OpenAI with $10 billion in mid-April and an additional $30 billion in December. However, the full investment is contingent on OpenAI transitioning into a for-profit company by the end of the year.

$40B into the furnace: As OpenAI adds a million users an hour, the race for enterprise AI dominance hits a new gear

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More In a move that surprised the tech industry Monday, OpenAI said it has secured a monumental $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank, catapulting its valuation to an unprecedented $300 billion -- making it the largest private equity investment on record. The landmark investment underscores the escalating significance of AI, and also signals a shift in the enterprise technology landscape. With such a vast war chest, OpenAI now has much more staying power in its battle against giants like Google and AWS, as well as leverage in navigating the sensitive relationship with its partner Microsoft, not to mention capital to go against tough competitors like Anthropic and the newer company from Elon Musk, xAI. Before this round closed, questions remained around whether OpenAI had the capital to continue to play in the big leagues. The funding details: a closer look For decision-makers navigating this rapidly evolving environment, understanding the implications of OpenAI's latest financial maneuver is important. The $40 billion infusion came primarily from SoftBank, with contributions from Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive Capital, according to reporting by CNBC. The capital earmarked for OpenAI's AI research, computational infrastructure, and enhancing its suite of AI tools, including the widely adopted ChatGPT, according to OpenAI's post on the news. Notably, $18 billion of this funding is allocated to the Stargate project -- a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle -aimed at developing extensive AI infrastructure. CEO Sam Altman tweeted Monday morning that the company had added "one million users in the last hour," contrasting it with the million added in the five days after ChatGPT launched 26 months ago. The latest viral surge of usage comes from the big update OpenAI made last week to its image generating technology, which has taken image creation to a whole new level of ease and sophistication -- with consumers going crazy making selfies in the style of Studio Ghibli. Notably, OpenAI announced Monday that it was restoring its offer to allow free users to access the new image generating technology, something it had taken back temporarily last week after usage overwhelmed the company's servers. While a lot of excitement around OpenAI remains on the consumer side, for enterprise technology leaders the funding development also carries big implications: OpenAI's bolstered resources will help it fast-track the development of advanced AI models and products for enterprise as well, allowing it to stay ahead amid increased competition. Enterprises should anticipate a continued flurry of new AI-driven solutions, necessitating continued vigilance among enterprise companies to stay on top of these releases in order to remain competitive.

OpenAI raises up to US$40bn in deal with SoftBank

Japanese investment group says it wants to realise 'artificial super intelligence' - smarter than people - in partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI said it had raised US$40bn in a funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300bn - the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. It comes in a partnership with the Japanese investment group SoftBank and "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further," OpenAI announced, adding it would "pave the way toward AGI (artificial general intelligence)" for which "massive computing power is essential". SoftBank said it wanted to realise "artificial super intelligence" (ASI) surpassing human intelligence and OpenAI was the partner closest to achieving that goal. SoftBank is to put $10bn at first into OpenAI and $30bn more by the end of 2025 if certain conditions are met. Also on Monday, OpenAI announced it was building a more open generative AI model as it faces growing competition in the open-source space from DeepSeek and Meta. OpenAI previously was a fierce defender of closed, proprietary models that do not allow developers to modify the basic technology to adapt AI to their goals. "We've been thinking about this for a long time, but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do," said the OpenAI chief executive, Sam Altman. OpenAI and defenders of closed models - which include Google - have often decried open models as riskier and more vulnerable to malicious and non-US government use. Elon Musk, a former OpenAI investor, has called on OpenAI to "return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was". Large companies and governments have proven reluctant to use AI models they have no control over, especially when data security is a concern. Meta and DeepSeek let companies download and modify their models. Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said this month that Llama had hit 1 bn downloads. DeepSeek's lower-cost R1 model in January rocked the world of artificial intelligence. OpenAI has been riding on the success of its latest image-generation features in ChatGPT. Altman claimed the tool helped add "one million users" in one hour and overwhelmed OpenAI's graphics processing units.

OpenAI reportedly raising $40 billion

Why it matters: This would be the largest venture capital round ever, which is the same thing we wrote last fall when OpenAI raised a measly $6.6 billion. Other investors reportedly would include Altimeter, Coatue, Founders Fund, and Magnetar Capital. Go deeper, via Bloomberg: "The San Francisco-based company generated $3.7 billion in revenue last year, according to a person familiar with the matter ... [and] expects sales to continue growing at a fast clip, more than doubling next year to $29.4 billion. ... Still, OpenAI is also confronting significant costs from the chips, data centers and talent needed to develop cutting-edge AI. It doesn't expect to be cash-flow positive until 2029."

OpenAI is now worth more than Chevron, McDonald's, and Salesforce

Sam Altman's OpenAI has closed a new $40 billion fundraising deal that almost doubles the firm's valuation and cements it as one of the most valuable private companies in the world. The artificial intelligence firm behind ChatGPT said late Monday that the fundraising values it at $300 billion, compared to $157 billion in October. The round was led by Japanese investment firm SoftBank (SFTBY-2.34%), which is working with OpenAI on the $500 billion Stargate plan alongside Oracle (ORCL-0.58%) and other partners. The New York Times, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, reports that the investment will be made in two parts, with $10 billion of immediate funding and $30 billion coming by the end of 2025. SoftBank accounts for 75% of that cash, while Microsoft (MSFT-1.17%), Thrive Capital, Coatue, and Altimeter, along with other investors, will provide the remainder. In a statement, OpenAI said the funding will allow it to "push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools" for users of its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot. OpenAI kicked off the AI boom in late 2022 when it debuted ChatGPT, which the company says now draws 500 million users each week, up from 400 million in February. That $300 billion valuation makes OpenAI one of the most valuable companies in the world. It's worth more than public giants across most industries, including Chevron (CVX+0.85%) ($294 billion), Samsung ($263 billion), Salesforce (CRM-0.97%) ($259 billion), McDonald's ($223 billion), and PepsiCo (PEP+0.96%)($205 billion). Its value is almost three times that of Starbucks (SBUX+0.17%) ($111 billion) or Lockheed Martin (LMT+1.34%) ($104 billion). OpenAI is the third-most valuable private firm in the world. ByteDance, the company behind the social media platform TikTok, reportedly planned to buy employee stock at a valuation of $312 billion last month. The most valuable private firm is still Elon Musk's SpaceX, which was valued at $350 billion in December. OpenAI was started in 2015 as a nonprofit, backed by the likes of Musk and others. After Musk left a few years later, the company adopted a "capped profit" structure, which allowed it to raise the funds needed to build out its AI technology through a for-profit arm. Late last year, OpenAI revealed a plan to restructure its operations and shift control from the nonprofit to OpenAI's investors as a for-profit company. At the time, OpenAI said it needed to raise "more capital than we'd imagined.' OpenAI's plans face a few hurdles, including a lawsuit from Musk, who wants to stop the company from becoming a for-profit. In February, Altman rejected a bid from Musk and other investors that reportedly offered $97.4 billion to take control of the nonprofit. "no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want," was how Altman responded in a social media spat with Musk. Twitter, rebranded as X after Musk purchased it, was just acquired by the billionaire's own xAI startup, an OpenAI rival. That deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, Musk said

OpenAI breaks record and raises a whopping $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation

Gap is betting Old Navy and AI will help solidify its position in retail Bloomberg reports that OpenAI is on the verge of completing a $40 billion funding injection. To put the funding in perspective, Nicaragua's annual GPD is approximately $17 billion, while Iceland's comes in at around $33 billion USD. According to the report, the fresh funding is being provided by SoftBank Group Corp. -- along with Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, Founders Fund, and Altimeter Capital Management in talks to participate, according to people familiar with the matter. If this funding deal is completed, the capital infusion into OpenAI would be the largest of all time, according to data compiled by research firm PitchBook and reported by Bloomberg. The funding would value the company at $300 billion, just under the total GDP of countries like South Africa and more than Portugal's. OpenAI's ChatGPT captured the public imagination when it first stormed onto the scene two years ago. It allows specific searches that serve up a cocktail of specific AI-infused answers (that sometimes miss the mark). It has also spawned fierce competition, with Google (GOOGL-3.28%) increasingly vying in the space and China's DeepSeek becoming a big player. An 'arms race' of sorts is developing with each company trying to outdo the other, ChatGPT recently unveiled new tools using AI to create graphics. The Trump administration came into the office announcing the creation on the Stargate project, underscoring the importance of AI on the national agenda. Stargate includes building up to 20 sprawling AI data centers in the US, with an initial investment of $100 billion and plans for up to $500 billion by 2029.

Inside OpenAI's Massive $40B Funding Round Led by Japan's SoftBank - Decrypt

OpenAI said Monday it has secured an additional $40 billion in funding to support research and development, as the tech powerhouse looks to strengthen its lead in the artificial intelligence sector. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank led the funding round, as well as contributions from other investors, including longtime partner Microsoft, OpenAI said in a blog post. Decrypt has reached out to learn more. The announcement comes just days after OpenAI's rival xAI acquired the X social media platform, owned by Elon Musk, a vocal critic of OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman. "Today we're announcing new funding -- $40 billion at a $300 billion post-money valuation, which enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week," OpenAI said. OpenAI now stands just behind Musk's SpaceX, valued at $350 billion. OpenAI was already considered a "unicorn," a designation for private companies valued at over $1 billion. Although he didn't mention the funding round, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X Monday that ChatGPT added two million users over the past five days. The spike in usage follows a significant upgrade to ChatGPT's image-generation capabilities. The tool proved so resource-intensive that Altman asked users on X to slow down usage, saying it was "melting OpenAI's GPUs." OpenAI praised SoftBank, calling the firm -- led by Masayoshi Son -- a leader in scaling transformative technologies. In January, OpenAI partnered with Oracle and SoftBank to launch the Stargate Project, a $500 billion initiative to construct AI data centers across the United States over the next four years. "Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI that benefits all of humanity," they said.

OpenAI says it raised $40 bn at valuation of $300 bn

San Francisco (AFP) - OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. The infusion of cash comes in a partnership with Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group and "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further," the San Francisco-based company said in a post on its website. "Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI (artificial general intelligence) that benefits all of humanity," the company said. AGI refers to a computing platform with human-level intelligence. The company plans to scale its infrastructure and "deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week." Opening up? The funding news came the same day OpenAI announced it was building a more open generative AI model as it faces growing competition in the open-source space from Chinese rival DeepSeek, and Meta. The move would mark a strategic shift by OpenAI, which until now has been a fierce defender of closed, proprietary models that do not allow developers to modify the basic technology to make AI more adapted to their goals. OpenAI and defenders of closed models -- which include Google -- have often decried open models as riskier and more vulnerable to nefarious uses by malicious actors or non-US governments. OpenAI's embrace of closed models has also been a bone of contention in its battles with former investor Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, who has called on OpenAI to honor the spirit of the company's name and "return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was." Putting pressure on OpenAI, many large companies and governments have proved reluctant to build their AI products or services on models they have no control over, especially when data security is a concern. The core selling point of Meta's family of Llama models or DeepSeek's models is addressing these worries by letting companies download their models and have far greater control to modify the technology for their own purposes and keep control of their data. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month that Llama hit one billion downloads, while the release of DeepSeek's lower-cost R1 model in January rocked the world of artificial intelligence. "We've been thinking about this for a long time, but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do," OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said on X of the decision to build a more open model. OpenAI has been riding on the success of its latest image-generation features in ChatGPT, the world-leading AI app and chatbot. Altman posted on Monday that the tool helped add "one million users" in one hour. That claim came days after Altman said the new image features were so popular that they were melting the OpenAI graphics processing units that power the AI due to heavy use.

OpenAI secures $300bn valuation in funding round led by SoftBank

The firm has raised $40 billion, one of the largest ever funding rounds secured by a private start-up. Maker of ChatGPT OpenAI said on Monday that it had finalised a funding round led by SoftBank, a Japanese investment group. The $40bn (€37bn) total raised is one of the largest sums ever secured by a private start-up. The deal also values OpenAI at $300bn (€277.6bn), almost double the firm's previous valuation of $157bn when it last raised in October. This makes it one of the world's most valuable private firms, competing with the likes of SpaceX and TikTok parent firm ByteDance. SoftBank plans to funnel $30bn into OpenAI, while the rest of the funding will come from investors including Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter and Thrive. SoftBank's contribution could however drop to $20bn if OpenAI fails to adequately restructure its operations by the end of the year. OpenAI said it would use the money to "push the frontiers of AI research even further" and "pave the way toward AGI that benefits all of humanity". Adapting to rival products Earlier on Monday, the firm also announced that it would be releasing a cheaper, more accessible AI model in the coming months. "We've been thinking about this for a long time but other priorities took precedence. now it feels important to do," CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X. Responding to competition from China's DeepSeek and Meta's Llama, the new model would be a pivot away from ChatGPT's paid subscription offers. Offering an open-weight product means that developers can fine-tune the model for their own tasks by studying the disclosed parameters. This offering is still a step away from open-source models, which offer more information, allowing developers to build from scratch. Critics of open models argue that they are too vulnerable to use by bad actors. Even so, former investor Elon Musk is a notable defender of the open model. He has called on OpenAI to "return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was".

OpenAI finalises deal for $40 billion in investments, raising company value up to $300 billion, but there's a catch to receive it all

ChatGPT creator OpenAI has been made an offer it can't refuse, otherwise known as a highly valued round of investments, but to get all of it, OpenAI needs to shift away from its original non-profit approach. Shared on the OpenAI website, the latest round of funding totals plans to invest $40 billion into the company, for a company valuation of $300 billion. The blog post states this "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further" and finishes off by bragging that ChatGPT is used by 500 million people every week. SoftBank Group, the Japanese investment group known for its majority share in chipmaker and software designer Arm Holdings, leads the charge on funding. As reported by Bloomberg, SoftBank is initially investing $7.5 billion into OpenAI with $2.5 billion invested alongside it from an investment group that includes Microsoft. By the end of 2025, another $30 billion is expected to be invested into the company, with $22.5 billion of that coming from SoftBank. The final $7.5 billion comes from the investment group. As noted by CNBC, the investment from Softbank will fall to $20 billion -- $10 billion below the expected $30 billion -- should OpenAI still operate as a non-profit by the end of 2025. The question of whether or not OpenAI will remain non-profit has been hotly debated over the last few months. X owner, and alleged Bronze Torbjörn main, Elon Musk vowed to bow out of a $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI in February if it agrees to stay non-profit. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered to buy X for $9.74 billion in retaliation. Last year, OpenAI reportedly had plans to restructure into a for-profit organisation. This would leave a non-profit section of OpenAI with a minor monetary stake in the for-profit section of OpenAI, thus losing control of it. This was not the first move into this structure as the company set up a for-profit subsidiary before that, where money could be invested into the company to further scale up the business. This rather blatantly rows back on the original OpenAI organization mission statement. Back in 2015, it said: "OpenAI is a non-profit artificial intelligence research company. Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return. Since our research is free from financial obligations, we can better focus on a positive human impact." The switch to for-profit raises the company value, which could in return result in even more investments. These investments would then need to generate revenue for board members which would change financial incentives for OpenAI as a whole. For-profit companies need to serve shareholders above all else, whereas non-profit organizations don't have the same incentives. The plus side to this is more money in the OpenAI could result in new ventures and more research funding. Whether or not the end user will benefit from this structure change is anyone's guess but there's some rightful scepticism about it, especially when you consider generative AI's blatant skirting around copyright laws, and AI's effects on artists. The OpenAI blog argued in favour of this restructuring last year, saying "We once again need to raise more capital than we'd imagined. Investors want to back us but, at this scale of capital, need conventional equity and less structural bespokeness."

OpenAI bags $40B in funding, increasing its post-money valuation to $300B - SiliconANGLE

OpenAI bags $40B in funding, increasing its post-money valuation to $300B OpenAI has closed on one of the largest-ever funding rounds for a private company, raising $40 billion at a $300 billion post-money valuation. The bumper funding round was led by SoftBank Group Corp. and saw participation from existing backers of OpenAI, including Microsoft Corp., Coatue Management, Thrive Capital and Altimeter Capital. The $300 billion valuation makes OpenAI, led by its Chief Executive Sam Altman (pictured), the world's second-most valuable private company alongside TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd, trailing only Elon Musk's SpaceX Corp., which is valued at $350 billion, according to data from CB Insights. In a brief blog post, OpenAI said the new funds would help it to "continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI that benefits all of humanity." AGI refers to the idea of "artificial general intelligence", or AI systems that exceed humans in their creativity and intelligence, which are a long-term goal for every major player in the industry today. The company will use a significant chunk of the new funds to build out the necessary computing infrastructure to support its AI systems. According to CNBC, which quotes an anonymous source familiar with the matter, around $18 billion is being set aside for OpenAI's Stargate initiative. Startgate is a joint venture announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in January that also includes SoftBank, Oracle Corp. and MGX Fund Management Ltd., set up to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the coming years. OpenAI's latest round dwarfs even the second-largest capital raise by a technology company. Back in 2018, Ant Group, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., raised a record-breaking $14 billion. That same year, a company called Juul Labs Inc., which manufactures electronic cigarettes, raised $12.8 billion, while the Chinese ride-sharing firm DiDi Global Inc. secured $10.8 billion in funding in 2019. Other mega-funding recipients in recent years include Databricks Inc., which raised $10 billion in funding in December, matching OpenAI's prior $10 billion round in 2023. It has taken a while for OpenAI to finalize the details of its latest funding round, with reports of discussions with investors first emerging at the end of January. The lengthy discussions were likely necessary due to the intricate nature of the agreement, with CNBC reporting that the company will only receive $10 billion of the funds initially. To obtain the rest of the money, it will need to make good on its promise of becoming a for-profit entity by the end of the year. Should it fail to do this, the funding amount may be slashed by up to $10 billion, meaning it would only get $30 billion in total. OpenAI will therefore need to get a hurry on. The company first announced its intention to transition from a non-profit research lab to a for-profit company last year, but it will need to secure the blessing of California's Attorney General in order to pull it off. It's also facing a court battle with Musk, one of its original co-founders, who has filed a lawsuit in an effort to halt its transition. OpenAI currently operates under an unusual hybrid structure, where the original non-profit organization owns and operates a capped-profit limited liability company that would be spun out as an independent firm under the planned transition. Should it proceed, OpenAI's investors would be able to swap the convertible notes they have received for equity in the for-profit entity. OpenAI's investors are betting that the company will be able to maintain its perceived lead in the generative AI industry that's expected to grow to more than $1.3 trillion by 2032, according to a forecast by Bloomberg Intelligence. It's a huge opportunity, but OpenAI faces stiff competition in the race to grab a slice of that pie, with the likes of Google LLC, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Anthropic PBC and Perplexity AI Inc. just some of the companies it's competing with. Should OpenAI require even more funding in future, it's likely that its next step would be to list itself on the stock exchange through an initial public offering, but it's not clear when such a move would happen. Last week, CoreWeave Inc. became the first pure-play AI company to launch an IPO, but it didn't go too well, with its stock falling more than 7% on Monday.

OpenAI raises $40bn, now worth $300bn

SoftBank alone has pledged $30bn, taking over from Microsoft as the company's largest investor. OpenAI has raised another $40bn - in what is estimated to be the largest private funding round ever. The funding, which was led by the Japanese investment firm SoftBank, takes the nine-year-old start-up to a $300bn post-raise valuation. Microsoft, Thrive Capital, Coatue management and Altimeter Capital Management also took part in the round. The deal doubles OpenAI's previous valuation of $157bn just six months ago. Bloomberg reported that SoftBank will invest $7.5bn up front, along with "an investor syndicate" which will pump in $2.5bn. As per the deal, OpenAI will receive the remaining $30bn by the end of the year, which would include $22.5bn from SoftBank and $7.5bn from a syndicate. With the latest infusion into the start-up, SoftBank has usurped Microsoft as OpenAI's biggest investor. Moreover, sources told the financial publication that the new deal stipulates that OpenAI complete its for-profit restructuring quickly. If the restructuring isn't concluded by the end of 2025, SoftBank would have the option to reduce its total $30bn contribution to $20bn. According to a statement the start-up put out yesterday (31 March), the new funding will enable OpenAI to further "push the frontiers of AI research", scale its compute, infrastructure and deliver more powerful tools to the 500m people who use ChatGPT weekly. The new US administration has loosened government control around artificial intelligence innovation and growth in the country, prompting many to raise concerns around copyright and energy usage - and OpenAI, in its proposal for a new AI policy in the US, seeks out even lesser regulations. The start-up wants a copyright strategy that "promotes the freedom to learn". However, it is embroiled in legal battles around the same issues, including one by the New York Times, where the publisher claims that AI models such as ChatGPT have copied and used millions of its published copyrighted works. OpenAI, which has been in the forefront of generative artificial intelligence, is also going through its latest viral moment. Last week, the company released a new image-generation feature which can produce anything from company logos to portraits. The feature was initially made available to paid subscribers, but has since been rolled out to all free users. While many were raising similar concerns around AI in art, the transformative nature of AI, as well as copyright - OpenAI added 1m new users to ChatGPT in the span of an hour yesterday. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

OpenAI Raises $40 Billion, Plans to Launch First Open-Weight Model Since GPT-2

Before its launch, the model will be evaluated using OpenAI's preparedness framework. OpenAI has announced that it has raised $40 billion at a $300 billion post-money valuation. The company stated that this funding will help push the frontiers of AI research, scale compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week. "We're excited to be working in partnership with SoftBank Group -- few companies understand how to scale transformative technology like they do," the company said in its blog post. OpenAI said that the support will help it continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalised education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way towards AGI that will benefit all of humanity. ChatGPT's new image-generation feature, which gained attention for Ghibli-style creations, has significantly increased user numbers. "The ChatGPT launch 26 months ago was one of the craziest viral moments I'd ever seen, and we added one million users in five days. We added one million users in the last hour," OpenAI chief Sam Altman wrote on X. Altman, in another post, also announced plans to release its first open-weight language model since GPT-2 with a focus on reasoning capabilities. The release is expected in the coming months. He said that the company is inviting developers to provide feedback on how to maximise the model's utility. It will hold events in San Francisco in the next few weeks, followed by sessions in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Developers can sign up to participate via OpenAI's website. "We've been thinking about this for a long time, but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do," Altman said. Before its launch, the model will be evaluated using OpenAI's preparedness framework, with additional considerations due to the likelihood of post-release modifications. Altman expressed interest in how developers, large companies, and governments will use the model, particularly in environments where self-hosting is preferred. "We're excited to see what developers build," he said.

OpenAI finalises biggest ever tech funding round at $US300b valuation

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, said it has finalised a funding round that will bring in $US40 billion ($64.1 billion) from SoftBank Group and other investors at a $US300 billion valuation, including money raised. The AI developer's financing round is the largest of all time, according to data compiled by research firm PitchBook. The deal values the ChatGPT maker at almost double its previous valuation of $US157 billion when it raised money in October.

OpenAI is now worth more than McDonald's

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, announced Monday that it's securing up to $40 billion in new funding, potentially valuing the company higher than McDonald's or Chevron. SoftBank Group is leading this new fundraising round for the AI powerhouse. The Japanese investment group plans to invest $10 billion in mid-April and an additional $30 billion in December, dependent on OpenAI transitioning to a for-profit model by year's end. According to Reuters, Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital, and Thrive Capital are among the "co-investors" contributing to the initial $10 billion investment. If OpenAI doesn't become a for-profit entity, SoftBank's total investment will cap at $20 billion. OpenAI estimates the agreement puts its "post-money" valuation at $300 billion. Quartz reports that this valuation surpasses fast-food giant McDonald's (over $223 billion) and energy firm Chevron (over $294 billion based on market capitalization as of Tuesday). OpenAI says the $40 billion will help it "push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week." The company added that SoftBank's backing "will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI that benefits all of humanity." Microsoft bails on $12B CoreWeave deal as OpenAI steps in SoftBank cites its alignment with the recently announced "Stargate Project" as the reason for its "follow-on investments" in OpenAI. This investment aims to "both further support OpenAI's growth and capture the benefits of that growth in SBG's NAV [net asset value]." OpenAI is partnering with SoftBank and Oracle to create a data center network through the $500 billion Stargate project to power AI workloads in the U.S. Other firms involved in Stargate include Microsoft, Nvidia, MGX, and Arm. SoftBank has invested $2.2 billion into OpenAI since the fall through its Vision 2 fund. Their stated "mission" behind this is "to realize Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) for the advancement of humanity."

OpenAI closes $40B funding round

OpenAI raised $40 billion from investors in its latest funding round, the ChatGPT maker announced Monday. The deal, which values the artificial intelligence (AI) company at $300 billion, was led by Japanese company SoftBank. It plans to contribute $30 billion, while the remaining $10 billion will come from a syndicate of other investors. "We're excited to be working in partnership with SoftBank Group -- few companies understand how to scale transformative technology like they do," OpenAI wrote in a blog post. "Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI that benefits all of humanity," it added. The massive funding round comes at a crucial inflection point for OpenAI, as it seeks to transition to a for-profit model. The deal is partly tied to this transition. SoftBank could cut its investment by $10 billion if OpenAI fails to restructure by the end of 2025, according to CNBC. The AI firm, which began as a non-profit, has argued that it needs to change in order to successfully compete with other tech companies that are investing billions of dollars into AI development. The for-profit shift has been a key point of contention with Elon Musk, who helped found OpenAI in 2015. He launched his own AI company, xAI, in 2023. Musk has repeatedly sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman over their for-profit plans throughout the past year. In March, a federal judge rejected Musk's request to block the restructuring but said she was prepared to expedite a trial to the fall of 2025. The tech billionaire also launched an unsolicited $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI's non-profit arm in February, which he promised to withdraw if the company agreed to halt its for-profit transition.

OpenAI Closes Up to $40B Funding Round, Valuing ChatGPT Maker at $300B

SoftBank is making an initial $10 billion payment. It will only invest $10 billion further if OpenAI fails to restructure into a for-profit firm. OpenAI has raised up to $40 billion in new funding from investors led by SoftBank Group, valuing the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion. The investment enables the startup "to push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week," OpenAI said. However, Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI will not receive the full amount pledged if the artificial intelligence (AI) startup fails to transform itself into a for-profit company "by the end of 2025, or in certain circumstances, early 2026." SoftBank, which "is planning to syndicate out" $10 billion of the up to $40 billion total to co-investors, is making an initial $10 billion payment. It will only invest $10 billion further if OpenAI fails to restructure into a for-profit firm. In January, President Donald Trump announced the companies and Oracle (ORCL) had formed a joint venture to build AI infrastructure in the U.S. The companies said they would commit $100 billion to start, and as much as $500 billion over the next four years toward the initiative, called Stargate.

ChatGPT Creator OpenAI Just Closed the Largest Private Tech Deal Ever, Raising $40 Billion: 'Make AI More Useful in Everyday Life'

The company also reported that ChatGPT now has 500 million weekly users, up from 400 million in February. OpenAI just closed a record-breaking fundraising round. On Monday, the ChatGPT-maker announced that it had raised $40 billion, with Japan's SoftBank contributing $30 billion and investors like Microsoft and Thrive investing the rest, at a $300 billion valuation. It's the biggest tech funding round on record from a private company, per CNBC. OpenAI says it will use the funds to power AI research, buy AI chips and infrastructure, and create AI tools for ChatGPT's now 500 million global weekly users. OpenAI last reported 400 million weekly users for ChatGPT in February. About $18 billion of the funding will go towards Stargate, a joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle announced in January to build AI data centers in the U.S. Related: ChatGPT Can Now Complete a Major Task That Would Take a Human Up to 30 Days. Here's How it Works. "Hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT each week," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement on Monday, per Bloomberg. "This investment helps us push the frontier and make AI more useful in everyday life." OpenAI will receive $10 billion right away and $30 billion by the end of the year. However, there's fine print to the deal: To receive the $30 billion, OpenAI has to transition to become a for-profit company by the end of the year, per Reuters. OpenAI currently consists of a nonprofit parent company and a for-profit arm, with the nonprofit board governing all of OpenAI's activities. In December, the startup proposed a plan to spin off its for-profit business into a Delaware-based corporation that runs and controls its business and operations. According to the Wall Street Journal, both OpenAI's largest shareholder, Microsoft, and the California attorney general need to approve of the plan and have yet to do so. The fundraising round nearly doubles OpenAI's valuation from its previous peak of $157 billion in October after a $6.6 billion fundraising round. Now, OpenAI is among the most valuable private companies in the world, joining the ranks of startups like SpaceX, valued at $350 billion in December, and TikTok's parent company ByteDance, worth around $300 billion in November.

OpenAI Close to Finalising $40 Billion SoftBank-Led Funding

OpenAI's funding round would be the largest of all time It generated $3.7 billion in revenue last year OpenAI expects sales to continue growing at a fast clip OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion (roughly Rs. 3,43,265 crore) funding round led by SoftBank Group -- with investors including Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, Founders Fund and Altimeter Capital Management in talks to participate, according to people familiar with the matter. Magnetar Capital -- an Evanston, Illinois-based hedge fund -- could contribute up to $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,581 crore), according to multiple people, all of whom asked not to be identified because the information is private. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) developer's funding round would be the largest of all time, according to data compiled by research firm PitchBook. The deal is set to value the company at $300 billion (roughly Rs. 25,74,492 crore) including dollars raised -- almost double the ChatGPT maker's previous valuation of $157 billion (roughly Rs. 13,47,177 crore) from when it raised money in October. As part of the deal, SoftBank will invest an initial $7.5 billion (roughly Rs. 64,354 crore) in the company, along with $2.5 billion (roughly Rs. 2,1451 crore) from an investor syndicate, said one of the people familiar with the discussions. There will be a second tranche of $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,57,430 crore) later this year that will include $22.5 billion (roughly Rs.1,93,069 crore) from SoftBank, and $7.5 billion (roughly Rs. 64,354 crore) from a syndicate, this person said. Its shares slid as much as 4.7 percent in Tokyo. The company's credit default swaps widened, in part because of concerns about the impact of such a large outlay on its finances. SoftBank declined to comment. The Japanese conglomerate has separately committed billions to the Stargate Project, the Abilene, Texas-based joint venture with partners including OpenAI, Oracle and MGX. Representatives for OpenAI, Magnetar and Founders Fund declined to comment on the funding round. Coatue and Altimeter didn't respond to requests for comment. The funding round underscores investors' enthusiasm for a company that's growing at an extraordinary pace alongside the adoption of AI around the world. OpenAI expects to more than triple its revenue this year to $12.7 billion (roughly Rs. 1,08,965 crore), fueled by the strength of its paid artificial intelligence software, Bloomberg News reported earlier. The San Francisco-based company generated $3.7 billion (roughly Rs. 31,745 crore) in revenue last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. OpenAI expects sales to continue growing at a fast clip, more than doubling next year to $29.4 billion (roughly Rs. 2,52,250 crore), the person said on condition of anonymity to discuss internal communications. Still, OpenAI is also confronting significant costs from the chips, data centers and talent needed to develop cutting-edge AI. It doesn't expect to be cash-flow positive until 2029, the person said, a year when it projects revenue will top $125 billion (roughly Rs. 10,72,562 crore). © 2025 Bloomberg LP

OpenAI says it raised $40 billion at valuation of $300 billion

OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. SoftBank is to pump $10 billion into OpenAI to start, and $30 billion more by the end of this year pending certain conditions.OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. The infusion of cash comes in a partnership with Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group and "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further," the San Francisco-based company said in a post on its website. "Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI (artificial general intelligence) that benefits all of humanity," the company said. AGI refers to a computing platform with human-level intelligence. SoftBank said in a release that it is on a mission to realize Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) that surpasses human intelligence, and that OpenAI is the partner closest to achieving that goal. "The advancement of OpenAI's AI models is key to achieving AGI and ASI, and massive computing power is essential," SoftBank stated in its rationale for the latest investment in the company. SoftBank is to pump $10 billion into OpenAI to start, and $30 billion more by the end of this year pending certain conditions. OpenAI plans to scale its infrastructure and "deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week." Opening up? The funding news came the same day OpenAI announced it was building a more open generative AI model as it faces growing competition in the open-source space from Chinese rival DeepSeek, and Meta. The move would mark a strategic shift by OpenAI, which until now has been a fierce defender of closed, proprietary models that do not allow developers to modify the basic technology to make AI more adapted to their goals. OpenAI and defenders of closed models -- which include Google -- have often decried open models as riskier and more vulnerable to nefarious uses by malicious actors or non-US governments. OpenAI's embrace of closed models has also been a bone of contention in its battles with former investor Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, who has called on OpenAI to honor the spirit of the company's name and "return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was." Putting pressure on OpenAI, many large companies and governments have proved reluctant to build their AI products or services on models they have no control over, especially when data security is a concern. The core selling point of Meta's family of Llama models or DeepSeek's models is addressing these worries by letting companies download their models, and have far greater control to modify the technology for their own purposes and keep control of their data. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month that Llama hit one billion downloads, while the release of DeepSeek's lower-cost R1 model in January rocked the world of artificial intelligence. "We've been thinking about this for a long time, but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do," OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said on X of the decision to build a more open model. OpenAI has been riding on the success of its latest image-generation features in ChatGPT, the world-leading AI app and chatbot. Altman posted on Monday that the tool helped add "one million users" in one hour. That claim came days after Altman said the new image features were so popular that they were melting the OpenAI graphics processing units that power the AI due to heavy use.

OpenAI close to finalizing its $40 billion SoftBank-led funding

OpenAI is nearing a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group, with investors including Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, and Founders Fund. The deal would value OpenAI at $300 billion, almost doubling its previous valuation. SoftBank will invest $7.5 billion initially, with a second $30 billion tranche later.OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group -- with investors including Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, Founders Fund and Altimeter Capital Management in talks to participate, according to people familiar with the matter. Magnetar Capital -- an Evanston, Illinois-based hedge fund -- could contribute up to $1 billion, according to multiple people, all of whom asked not to be identified because the information is private. Representatives for OpenAI, Magnetar and Founders Fund declined to comment on the funding round. Coatue and Altimeter did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The artificial intelligence developer's funding round would be the largest of all time, according to data compiled by research firm PitchBook. The deal is set to value the company at $300 billion including dollars raised -- almost double the ChatGPT maker's previous valuation of $157 billion from when it raised money in October. As part of the deal, SoftBank will invest an initial $7.5 billion in the company, along with $2.5 billion from an investor syndicate, said one of the people familiar with the discussions. There will be a second tranche of $30 billion later this year that will include $22.5 billion from SoftBank, and $7.5 billion from a syndicate, this person said. SoftBank declined to comment. The Japanese conglomerate has separately committed billions to the Stargate Project, the Abilene, Texas-based joint venture with partners including OpenAI, Oracle and MGX.

OpenAI Raises $40B In Funding With Aim To 'Push The Frontiers Of AI Research Even Further'

The new funding means the ChatGPT creator and artificial intelligence innovator will have a $300 billion valuation. ChatGPT creator and AI innovator OpenAI said Monday that it had raised $40 billion in new funding, giving the company a blockbuster $300 billion post-money valuation. CNBC reported that the new round is the largest private tech funding round on record. In announcing the new funding, OpenAI said the fundraising "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week." "We're excited to be working in partnership with SoftBank Group -- few companies understand how to scale transformative technology like they do," the company said. "Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI that benefits all of humanity." AGI is artificial general intelligence, which would allow for more autonomous, human-like AI technology. The new round is being led by SoftBank with $30 billion along with backer Microsoft as well as Coatue, Altimeter and Thrive. CNBC, citing a person familiar with the matter, said about $18 billion of the funding would be used for OpenAI's involvement in the StargateProject, a new company backed by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX.

OpenAI says new funding from SoftBank boosts valuation to $300 billion

OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. The infusion of cash comes in a partnership with Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group and "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further," the San Francisco-based company said in a post on its website. "Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI (artificial general intelligence) that benefits all of humanity," the company said.

OpenAI Finalizes $40 Billion Funding Round, Valuing Company At $300 Billion With Backing From SoftBank And Microsoft - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBF)

OpenAI has finalized a record-setting $40 billion funding round, boosting the company's valuation to $300 billion, with major investments from SoftBank Group SFTBF SFTBY, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, and other key backers. What Happened: This financing round is the largest in history, according to research firm PitchBook, and almost doubles OpenAI's previous valuation of $157 billion. SoftBank led the latest funding round with an initial investment of $7.5 billion, accompanied by $2.5 billion from a group of investors, reported Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the agreement. See Also: Arm Aims for 50% Data Center CPU Market Share by 2025, Challenging Intel and AMD Other investors in the group are Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital Management, and Thrive Capital. A second round of funding, totaling $30 billion, is expected by the end of 2025. This will consist of $22.5 billion from SoftBank and $7.5 billion from the investor group, the report noted. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: OpenAI reportedly expects its revenue to surge to $12.7 billion this year. The company also revealed it has 1 million paid users for its corporate versions of ChatGPT, with a new $200-per-month "Pro" plan for access to advanced AI models. On Monday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also announced plans to release a new open-weight language model with reasoning capabilities. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: OpenAI And Microsoft Back MCP Standard For Web-Surfing AI Agents; Google's Sundar Pichai Asks A Shakespearean Question Photo courtesy: Shutterstock MSFTMicrosoft Corp$375.670.07%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum34.58Growth64.64Quality34.42Value14.99Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewSFTBFSoftBank Group Corp$62.2723.9%SFTBYSoftBank Group Corp$25.280.24%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI close to finalizing $40 billion SoftBank-led funding

OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion (¥6 trillion) funding round led by SoftBank Group -- with investors including Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, Founders Fund and Altimeter Capital Management in talks to participate, according to people familiar with the matter. Magnetar Capital -- an Evanston, Illinois-based hedge fund -- could contribute up to $1 billion, according to multiple people, all of whom asked not to be identified because the information is private. The artificial intelligence developer's funding round would be the largest of all time, according to data compiled by research firm PitchBook. The deal is set to value the company at $300 billion including dollars raised -- almost double the ChatGPT maker's previous valuation of $157 billion from when it raised money in October.

SoftBank May Want To Outdo Microsoft With $40 Billion Investment in OpenAI's Latest Funding Round - SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBF), SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBY)

Markets are swinging wildly, but for Matt Maley, it's just another opportunity to trade. His clear, simple trade alerts have helped members lock in gains as high as 100% and 450%. Now, you can get his next trade signal -- completely free. ChatGPT parent OpenAI inched closer to finalizing a $40 billion funding round as of Thursday, led by SoftBank Group Corp SFTBF SFTBY and investors Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, Founders Fund, and Altimeter Capital Management. Magnetar Capital could contribute up to $1 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The deal could value the company at $300 billion compared to its previous valuation of $157 billion in the October funding round. Also Read: ChatGPT Parent OpenAI's Specialized AI Agents Could Cost Up To $20 Thousand Per Month: report SoftBank will commit an initial $7.5 billion to the company and $2.5 billion from an investor syndicate. According to the report, the second tranche of $30 billion will include $22.5 billion from SoftBank and $7.5 billion from a syndicate. SoftBank is reportedly negotiating an investment of $15 billion -- $25 billion in OpenAI, making it the largest investor in the ChatGPT creator. This would surpass Microsoft Corp MSFT, which has invested nearly $14 billion. Reportedly, OpenAI and Microsoft negotiated to convert Microsoft's $14 billion investment in OpenAI into equity in the AI company. Reports also indicated that OpenAI and Microsoft are facing tensions in their partnership due to financial strain and rising expenses at OpenAI. OpenAI asked Microsoft for additional funding and computing power, but Microsoft has been hesitant since OpenAI's leadership changes. OpenAI's projected computing expenses could reach $37.5 billion annually by 2029. Separately, SoftBank has committed billions to the Stargate Project, a Texas-based joint venture with partners including OpenAI, Oracle Corp, and MGX. OpenAI expects to more than triple its revenue this year to $12.7 billion. In 2024, it generated $3.7 billion in revenue. OpenAI expects sales to proliferate to $29.4 billion in 2026. Still, OpenAI doesn't expect to be cash-flow positive until 2029, when it projects revenue to top $125 billion as it grapples with AI development costs. As of February, SoftBank committed $40 billion in OpenAI at a $260 billion valuation, CNBC reports. It expects to earmark part of the funding to OpenAI's commitment to Stargate. Also Read: SoftBank To Build $676 Million AI Data Center In Japan, Linked To OpenAI Partnership Image via Shutterstock SFTBFSoftBank Group Corp$62.2717.1%OverviewSFTBYSoftBank Group Corp$25.83-3.22%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$390.630.17%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI Reportedly Ready to Close Record $40 Billion Funding Round | PYMNTS.com

OpenAI is reportedly close to finalizing what would be the largest funding round of all time. That $40 billion round is being led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, with other venture capital groups in talks to participate, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (March 26), citing sources familiar with the matter. The funding round -- the largest ever, per PitchBook data -- would value OpenAI at $300 billion. That's nearly twice the $157 valuation the company achieved with an October funding round. One source told Bloomberg that OpenAI generated $3.7 billion in revenue last year, and expects sales to reach $29.4 billion next year. However, this person added that the company does not expect to be cash-flow positive until 2029, when revenues are projected to exceed $125 billion. As PYMNTS has reported, some of the funds raised in this round will go toward the $18 billion OpenAI has pledged to the Stargate artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project, a half-trillion dollar venture aimed at developing AI data centers in the U.S. Stargate's equity partners are SoftBank, which will be responsible for funding the venture, along with Oracle and MGX, an AI-focused sovereign wealth fund based in Dubai. In addition, OpenAI and SoftBank also recently announced a joint venture company that will market enterprise AI solutions to major companies in Japan. CFOs and payments leaders are faced with a challenge. To unlock the true potential of AI in areas like accounts payable (AP), they must rethink how new systems interact with their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, ensuring that innovation does not come at the expense of operational stability. PYMNTS spoke recently with Alex Hoffmann, general manager North America at Edenred Pay, about the challenge CFOs and payments leaders face when trying to unlock the potential of AI in areas such as accounts payable. "Our industry has been talking about automation for such a long time, yet 84% of the typical AP practitioner's time is still spent on manual tasks," said Hoffmann. All the same, he believes there's "never been a more exciting time" for accounts payable. The combination of AI, enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration and new methods of payments, such as real-time payments and virtual cards, have created unprecedented opportunities for finance leaders. "CFOs have a real chance to elevate AP from a back-office function to a strategic powerhouse," Hoffmann told PYMNTS.

OpenAI raises $40B at $300B valuation in round led by SoftBank

Sam Altman's OpenAI has raised $40 billion in a new funding round led by investment giant SoftBank as it looks to stave off rivals like Elon Musk's xAI and China-based DeepSeek. The ChatGPT maker secured a $300 billion post-money valuation with the round, OpenAI said in an announcement on Monday. After the round, OpenAI is tied with TikTok parent ByteDance as the second-most valuable privately-held company, trailing only Musk-led SpaceX. OpenAI said the money "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week." The AI giant will receive $10 billion in initial funding - with SoftBank and its CEO Masayoshi Son to contribute $7.5 billion and the rest of the money coming from a group of investors that includes Microsoft, Thrive Capital, Altimeter Capital and Coatue Management, Bloomberg reported. The additional $30 billion is set to be dispersed at the end of the year, with $22.5 billion coming from SoftBank and $7.5 billion from other investors. The funding round is the largest of its kind on record, according to PitchBook data. However, the full funding is contingent on OpenAI successfully completing its plans to transform into a for-profit entity. If the restructuring succeeds, SoftBank's total investment will reach $30 billion, with co-investors forking over the remaining $10 billion. If it fails, the Japanese investment firm will reduce its commitment to $20 billion, according to a disclosure by SoftBank. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left the firm after a falling-out with Altman, is currently challenging the restructuring plans in court. Last month, a federal judge declined to grant Musk's request for an injunction blocking OpenAI's for-profit claims, but said the case could proceed to an expedited trial. The new funds will be used in part to cover OpenAI's portion of the "Stargate" project - a collaborative effort with SoftBank and Larry Ellison's Oracle to build a massive network of data centers and other infrastructure to support the firms' AI ambitions. Stargate was unveiled in January at a White House event by President Trump, who called it a "a resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential." OpenAI said the financing was another step toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) - defined as AI with human-level or better cognitive capabilities. In its statement, SoftBank said "massive computing power is essential" for realizing OpenAI's plans. The round closed even after DeepSeek raised questions about the need for massive investments in AI infrastructure earlier this year by unveiling an advanced model that it claimed to have trained for less than $6 million.

OpenAI valued at $300 bln; to raise $40 bln in SoftBank-led funding round By Investing.com

Investing.com-- OpenAI said on Monday it will raise $40 billion in a new funding round led by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) that values the artificial intelligence startup at $300 billion, making it among the most valuable private firms. The company said it intends to deliver "increasingly powerful tools" for its some 500 million weekly users, and that the new funding from Softbank (OTC:SFTBY) also furthered its progress towards artificial general intelligence. OpenAI's premier ChatGPT tool, which is one of the most-used AI chatbots in the world, saw viral popularity over the past week after a recent update drastically improved its image generation capabilities. The new $300 billion valuation is substantially bigger than the $157 billion OpenAI was valued at in October, when it closed a $6.6 billion funding round. News of the Softbank investment was reported earlier in March. OpenAI and the Japanese technology conglomerate are also set to lead a $500 billion project to build more AI data center infrastructure in the U.S., called Project Stargate. Softbank's investment is expected to make the Japanese firm OpenAI's biggest backer after Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), which has backed the AI startup extensively since 2019. The capital raise comes amid the increasing popularity of AI in business and consumer applications over the past two years. OpenAI had kicked off the AI race with the release of ChatGPT in late-2022. The app set a record for reaching 100 million monthly active users in just two months.

OpenAI close to finalizing $40 bln SoftBank-led funding round- Bloomberg By Investing.com

Investing.com-- OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion funding round led by Japan's Softbank (OTC:SFTBY) Group along with a slew of other private equity groups, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Other participants in the round include Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, and Alitmeter Capital, the Bloomberg report said, citing people familiar with the matter. An earlier report from Bloomberg said Softbank could invest as much as $25 billion in OpenAI, making it the biggest backer of the ChatGPT maker after Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). The Softbank funding comes after the Japanese technology giant and OpenAI committed to a $500 billion project to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S. The project- called Project Stargate- is aimed largely at building more data centers to increase OpenAI's access to computing power. Greater computing power entails better performance for OpenAI's flagship AI models. The company had earlier this week updated its GPT-4o model to add image generation to its features. Softbank has vowed to aggressively increase its investment in AI, with CEO Masayoshi Son flagging great potential in the fast-growing technology. But Thursday's report also comes amid some doubts over increased investment in AI infrastructure, especially as companies focus on developing leaner, more efficient models and as the industry shifts to inference from training. TD Cowen said Microsoft had canceled several data center leases in the U.S. and Europe in the last six months, amid concerns of oversupply in data center capacity.

SoftBank Group Agrees to Lead $40 Billion Funding for OpenAI

SoftBank Group has agreed to lead a funding of up to $40 billion in a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI, valuing the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion. The Japanese technology investment company said Tuesday that the company planned to invest up to $30 billion in OpenAI Global and syndicate the remaining $10 billion to co-investors. SoftBank Group said an initial investment of $10 billion was set to be paid in mid-April and the remaining financing of up to $30 billion was expected to be completed in December. The Japanese company said it had decided to make additional investments in OpenAI to further support its growth and capture benefits. In order to receive the full sum, OpenAI has to successfully restructure into an independent for-profit company by the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal has reported. If it doesn't, SoftBank can pare back the funding round's size to $20 billion. OpenAI said the latest funding would help the company continue building artificial-intelligence systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education and enhance human creativity. SoftBank has invested $2.2 billion in OpenAI through SoftBank Vision Fund 2 since September. In January, SoftBank Group and OpenAI announced a plan to invest up to half a trillion dollars in AI infrastructure in the U.S., together with other partners such as Oracle and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. The joint venture, called Stargate, will build data centers for OpenAI. SoftBank's stock has dropped in recent weeks as tech shares sold off on Wall Street due partly to concerns about U.S. tariffs, inflation and high borrowing costs. The company reported a quarterly net loss for the three months ended December, in part because of the weakness in its technology funds business. Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

OpenAI to raise $40 bln in new funding to drive AI research

STORY: OpenAI says it will raise $40 billion in new funding to help drive research. The ChatGPT maker said Monday the new fundraising round would be led by SoftBank. A Reuters source said the giant Japanese tech investor would provide 75% of the money, with the rest coming from Microsoft and other investment groups. The deal values OpenAI at $300 billion. That's nearly double the price tag put on the outfit in a funding round late last year. OpenAI says it will use the new funds to drive research and develop powerful new tools. It's partnering with SoftBank and Oracle to develop a network of data centers under the $500 billion Stargate project. That's aimed at powering AI services in the U.S. A Reuters source says OpenAI must complete its transition to a for-profit company by the end of the year to secure the full amount of funding from SoftBank. It was originally established as a non-profit organisation, but says that has to change given its need to raise huge amounts of money from investors. The latest fundraising makes it among the most valuable private companies worldwide, alongside the likes of Elon Musk's SpaceX and China's ByteDance, the owner of TikTok.

OpenAI to raise $40 billion in SoftBank-led round to boost AI efforts

(Reuters) -OpenAI said on Monday it would raise up to $40 billion in a new funding round led by SoftBank Group at a $300 billion valuation to advance AI research, expand computational infrastructure and enhance its tools. The Japanese tech investment group said it has agreed to fund OpenAI with $10 billion in mid-April and an additional $30 billion in December, contingent on the AI firm transitioning to for-profit by the end of the year. SoftBank plans to syndicate out $10 billion of its total investment to other co-investors it did not name. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the remainder of the funding would come from Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital and Thrive Capital. If OpenAI's restructuring fails, SoftBank said its total investment amount in the round would drop to $20 billion. OpenAI said it looks to deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week. Investor enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence sector has surged significantly in recent years, driven by the widespread adoption of chatbots and the emergence of sophisticated AI agents. Enterprises have integrated AI solutions to streamline their operations and enhance customer experiences, while venture capital firms compete to back promising AI startups. San Francisco-based OpenAI had closed a $6.6 billion funding round in October, which valued the company at $157 billion. The new funding round would nearly double the valuation of the AI startup. "OpenAI has very ambitious plans on many fronts and needs a lot of capital to achieve these goals," D.A. Davidson & Co analyst Gil Luria said. "The list of investors wanting to support that scope has shrunk and may be largely limited to SoftBank, which itself may not have the necessary capital." SoftBank plans to finance the first $10 billion through borrowings from Mizuho Bank and other financial firms. OpenAI is partnering with SoftBank and Oracle to establish a network of data centers under the $500-billion Stargate project, aimed at powering AI workloads in the U.S. "AI is a defining force shaping humanity's future. Our expanded partnership with OpenAI accelerates our shared vision to unlock its full potential," said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group. Microsoft-backed OpenAI also plans to revamp its structure, saying it would create a public benefit corporation to attract more investment and resources while balancing shareholder interests with public benefits. With the latest funding, OpenAI will join the ranks of the most valuable private companies such as SpaceX, China's ByteDance and Stripe. U.S. law firm Morrison Foerster advised SoftBank. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico and Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel, Alan Barona and Savio D'Souza)

OpenAI's USD40 billion funding to advance AI innovation

SAN FRANCIS CO (AFP) - OpenAI recently said it raised USD40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at USD300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. The infusion of cash comes in a partnership with Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group and "enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further," the San Francisco-based company said in a post on its website. "Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalised education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI (artificial general intelligence) that benefits all of humanity," the company said. AGI refers to a computing platform with human-level intelligence. The company plans to scale its infrastructure and "deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week." The funding news came the same day OpenAI announced it was building a more open generative AI model as it faces growing competition in the open-source space from Chinese rival DeepSeek, and Meta. The move would mark a strategic shift by OpenAI, which until now has been a fierce defender of closed, proprietary models that do not allow developers to modify the basic technology to make AI more adapted to their goals. OpenAI and defenders of closed models - which include Google - have often decried open models as riskier and more vulnerable to nefarious uses by malicious actors or non-US governments. OpenAI's embrace of closed models has also been a bone of contention in its battles with former investor Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, who has called on OpenAI to honour the spirit of the company's name and "return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was." Putting pressure on OpenAI, many large companies and governments have proved reluctant to build their AI products or services on models they have no control over, especially when data security is a concern. The core selling point of Meta's family of Llama models or DeepSeek's models is addressing these worries by letting companies download their models and have far greater control to modify the technology for their own purposes and keep control of their data. "We've been thinking about this for a long time, but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do," OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said on X of the decision to build a more open model. OpenAI has been riding on the success of its latest image-generation features in ChatGPT, the world-leading AI app and chatbot. Altman said on Monday that the tool helped add "one million users" in one hour. That claim came days after Altman said the new image features were so popular that they were melting the OpenAI graphics processing units that power the AI due to heavy use.