OpenAI closes $122 billion funding round at $852 billion valuation, eyes public debut

OpenAI, not yet public, raises $3B from retail investors in monster $122B fund raise | TechCrunch

OpenAI has closed a deal to raise $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation, its largest funding round to date as the company is expected to hit the public markets this year. The round will add to OpenAI's war chest as it spends enormous amounts of money on AI chips, data center buildouts, and hiring top talent. SoftBank co-led the round alongside Andreessen Horowitz, D.E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and T. Rowe Price Associates, with participation from Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft. About $3 billion came from individual investors via bank channels. OpenAI is also going to be included in several ETFs managed by ARK Invest, giving more people access to the private company's stock to broaden its shareholder base in advance of its reportedly upcoming IPO. OpenAI also said it expanded its revolving credit facility to about $4.7 billion, supported by several of the top global banks. The facility remains undrawn, the company said, which suggests it's bolstering its financial flexibility as it ramps spending on compute and infrastructure, rather than responding to near-term liquidity needs. The company's press release on the raise reads less like a typical blog post than a draft of an S-1; it's heavy on the flywheel metaphors, digs into revenue per compute unit, and offers the kind of TAM-justifying language that institutional investors drool over. OpenAI included updates on revenue and user numbers, claiming it's generating $2 billion in revenue per month and taking a shot at competitors: "At this stage, we are growing revenue four times faster than the companies who defined the Internet and mobile eras, including Alphabet and Meta." The company also said it has more than 900 million weekly active users in consumer AI and over 50 million subscribers, with search usage nearly tripling in the last year. OpenAI said its ads pilot bringing in more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue in under six weeks, opening up a serious potential revenue stream for the company that built its user base without ads. The AI giant claims momentum is mirrored on the business side, which now makes up 40% of its revenue (up from around 30% last year) and is "on track to reach parity with consumer by the end of 2026." Its growth across agentic workflows, the company said, is driven by its newest model GPT-5.4. Finally, OpenAI also called itself an "AI superapp," making it clear that it wants to own the primary interface for how people use AI. All of it adds up to a single message: OpenAI is building its public market narrative in real time, and this round is as much about anchoring IPO expectations as it is about the capital itself.

OpenAI Valued at $852 Billion After Completing $122 Billion Round

OpenAI has completed a deal to raise $122 billion from investors at an $852 billion valuation, marking the company's largest funding round to date by far and bolstering its costly push for more chips, data centers and talent. The bulk of the financing, which had been in the works for months, came from three large tech companies. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to invest $50 billion in the round, while Nvidia Corp. and SoftBank Group Corp. each put in $30 billion. A large portion of Amazon's investment -- $35 billion -- is contingent on OpenAI going public or reaching the technological milestone of artificial general intelligence. The ChatGPT maker also secured funding from a long list of other prominent backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, Abu Dhabi's MGX, D.E. Shaw Ventures, TPG and T. Rowe Price. The company's valuation includes the money raised. Bloomberg News previously reported details of those talks and the financial terms of the deal. In a first for the company, OpenAI raised more than $3 billion from individual investors through bank channels. The startup also said it will be included in several exchange-traded funds managed by Cathie Wood's Ark Invest, with the goal of offering more people exposure to the AI firm. OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said the financing "blows out of the water even the largest IPO that's ever been done." The deal, she said, is meant to give the company "a lot of flexibility" to invest in computing resources and its AI roadmap at a time of broader uncertainty for the public markets, including from the Iran war. The AI developer has previously said it's committed to spending more than $1.4 trillion on physical infrastructure in the coming years to support its AI software. To finance those bets, OpenAI and rival Anthropic PBC have tapped an overlapping group of venture funds and tech companies, including their cloud and chip suppliers like Amazon and Nvidia. The complex web of tie-ups has sparked concerns about the fallout if the technology doesn't match today's lofty expectations. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Plus Signed UpPlus Sign UpPlus Sign Up By continuing, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The two startups are also expected to go public as soon as this year, bringing in additional capital and testing Wall Street's appetite for unprofitable but fast-growing AI businesses. Friar said OpenAI needs to be "public-company capable," referring to it as "good hygiene" for a business, without sharing specific details of plans for an initial public offering. She also said an IPO can serve as a "trust-building moment" for a firm. OpenAI said Tuesday that it's currently generating $2 billion in revenue each month. The company, which gained household attention as a product for everyday users, is also seeing traction among business customers. Enterprise sales now make up 40% of its revenue, the company said, with that figure expected to increase to 50% by year's end. The company's financial commitment from Amazon also comes with a cloud agreement to host and distribute OpenAI's models for enterprise customers. That partnership will include a revenue-sharing agreement, Friar said, without disclosing how much. OpenAI has stepped up its revenue push this year by introducing advertising in ChatGPT, an option that Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman had once described as a "last resort." The company, which has traditionally relied on a subscription model, said its ads pilot program hit $100 million in annualized revenue after just six weeks. In recent weeks, OpenAI has moved to streamline its sprawling mix of products. The company said it is discontinuing support for the Sora AI video generator. It is also developing a desktop application to bring together its chatbot, coding tool and web browser -- a product that OpenAI is referred to in its blog post as "our SuperApp." "Users do not want disconnected tools. They want a single system that can understand intent, take action, and operate across applications, data, and workflows," the company said in a blog post Tuesday, confirming the plans. In a staff memo about the decision to nix Sora, Altman said OpenAI will also be reorganizing some of its security and safety teams to better integrate that work into the development process and give the CEO more time to focus on infrastructure projects and raising capital.

OpenAI raises $3bn from retail investors as part of record funding haul

OpenAI has raised more than $3bn from retail investors as part of a massive funding round the company hopes will help it outmuscle rivals including Anthropic and set it on the path to an initial public offering as early as this year. The ChatGPT maker has closed a record funding round of up to $122bn, which dwarfs any previous private raise and values the company at $852bn, including the new money. As part of that deal, OpenAI has tapped retail investors for the first time, through a trio of banks and exchange traded funds managed by Cathie Wood's ARK Invest. The company framed their participation as a way of "giving more people the opportunity to share in the upside economics of OpenAI and the AI era". The deals were the largest private placements the banks had completed, said Sarah Friar, OpenAI's chief financial officer. Retail investors are expected to play an important role in the massive public listings anticipated over the next 12 months, accounting for as much as 30 per cent of the SpaceX float and participating in IPOs for OpenAI and Anthropic, said people familiar with the matter. Friar said broadening access was consistent with the company's mission of ensuring powerful AI was created "for the benefit of humanity." That meant "not just access to the technology but access to the financial upside", she said on Tuesday. Currently only wealthy retail investors could access the stock, but Friar said one of her main priorities was to expand that in time. Growing retail exposure to lossmaking private companies is also likely to be a concern. Individual investors tend to be less sophisticated than financial groups such as venture capitalists and are often afforded fewer protections than earlier backers. They also tend to gain access later and at higher valuations. Retail investors became a mainstay of private capital over the past decade but have begun pulling money from some funds this year amid a downturn in that market. OpenAI's partners SoftBank, Amazon and Nvidia committed $110bn of the total raised; Microsoft and venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital accounted for billions of dollars more. Amazon's $50bn commitment is split between a $15bn upfront investment and a $35bn tranche, which will follow when OpenAI either goes public or achieves so-called artificial general intelligence, a breakthrough that Friar defined as "the majority of economically valuable human work being able to be done by [AI] agents". OpenAI is raising the new capital to fuel its competition with Anthropic, Google and others building frontier AI models. The company is fighting to build upon and monetise its 900mn or so individual users while also making inroads selling to businesses. The San Francisco-based group has jettisoned a number of projects in recent weeks -- including its video app Sora and a planned erotic chatbot -- as it seeks to focus only on its core business. OpenAI said it was generating $2bn a month in revenue, roughly 60 per cent from its consumer business and the remainder from enterprises.

OpenAI closes record-breaking $122 billion funding round as anticipation builds for IPO

CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman speaks during the 2026 Infrastructure Summit of government officials, corporate executives, and labor leaders, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2026. OpenAI on Tuesday announced that it closed a record-breaking funding round at a post-money valuation of $852 billion. The round totaled $122 billion of committed capital, up from the $110 billion figure that the company announced in February. SoftBank co-led the round alongside other investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and D. E. Shaw Ventures, OpenAI said. OpenAI kickstarted the artificial intelligence boom with the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot in 2022, and the company has since ballooned into one of the fastest-growing commercial entities on the planet. As of March, ChatGPT supports more than 900 million weekly active users, including more than 50 million subscribers. "AI is driving productivity gains, accelerating scientific discovery, and expanding what people and organizations can build," OpenAI said in a release. "This funding gives us the resources to continue to lead at the scale this moment demands." With the close of its latest funding round, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will be under pressure to justify his company's massive valuation, especially as it gears up for a potential IPO. The startup has been retreating from some hefty spending plans and shuttering certain features and products in recent months, including its short-form video app Sora, as it looks to rein in costs.

OpenAI Set to Raise About $10 Billion From MGX, Coatue, Thrive

Ask Mark Gurman Anything About Apple Ask Mark Gurman Anything About Apple Ask Mark Gurman Anything About Apple From its latest devices, to an AI comeback and the future after Tim Cook, join the live conversation on Thursday, March 26 at 11 a.m. EDT. From its latest devices, to an AI comeback and the future after Tim Cook, join the live conversation on Thursday, March 26 at 11 a.m. EDT. From its latest devices, to an AI comeback and the future after Tim Cook, join the live conversation on Thursday, March 26 at 11 a.m. EDT. Click to listen Click to listen Click to listen Click to listen OpenAI is nearing a deal to raise about $10 billion from venture investors, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing the total haul from its latest funding round to roughly $120 billion. Abu Dhabi's MGX, Coatue Management and Thrive Capital are set to participate in the round at a $730 billion valuation, not including the money raised, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information. Altimeter Capital is also planning to put in money, the people said. The investments are expected to be finalized by the end of this month, the people said. Talks are ongoing and the final amount could change. The ChatGPT maker announced last month that it had finalized a deal to raise $110 billion in funding from Amazon.com Inc., Nvidia Corp. and SoftBank Group Corp. Bloomberg News previously reported OpenAI planned to seek more money from venture firms before completing the round. OpenAI declined to comment. Representatives for Coatue, MGX, Thrive and Altimeter did not respond to requests for comment. The deal marks OpenAI's largest funding round to date and bolsters its costly push to secure more computing power and talent for AI development. The additional capital would bring OpenAI's valuation to around $850 billion, including the money raised. OpenAI rival Anthropic PBC completed a deal last month to raise $30 billion from investors at a $380 billion valuation. MGX co-led that funding round.

OpenAI closes $122B round at $852B valuation, opens door to retail investors

There is a number that keeps getting larger, and on Tuesday it got larger again. OpenAI announced that it had closed its latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital, valuing the ChatGPT maker at $852 billion post-money. The figure is up from the $110 billion the company announced in February, when Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank each committed tens of billions to anchor what was already the largest private funding round in history. The additional $12 billion came from a broader pool of investors, and it is this tranche that marks the more consequential shift. For the first time, OpenAI extended participation to individual investors through bank channels, raising $3 billion from retail participants. It is a move that looks less like conventional venture financing and more like the groundwork for what comes next: a widely anticipated initial public offering that could land as early as the fourth quarter of 2026. SoftBank co-led the round alongside Andreessen Horowitz and D. E. Shaw Ventures. Among the strategic investors, Amazon's commitment was the largest at up to $50 billion, followed by Nvidia and SoftBank at $30 billion each. Microsoft, OpenAI's longtime partner, also participated, though the company did not disclose the size of its contribution. As of late last year, Microsoft had invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI. The scale of the round reflects both the ambition of OpenAI's plans and the sheer volume of capital now chasing AI infrastructure. The company said it is generating $2 billion in revenue per month, up from the $13.1 billion it recorded for the full year in 2025. ChatGPT now supports more than 900 million weekly active users, including more than 50 million subscribers. These are numbers that would be remarkable for any company; for one that launched its signature product in late 2022, they are extraordinary. But OpenAI is still burning cash and is not yet profitable, a detail that looms larger as the valuation climbs. CEO Sam Altman will be under considerable pressure to justify an $852 billion price tag, particularly as the company has been retreating from some of its more ambitious spending plans in recent months. OpenAI shut down Sora, its short-form video generation app, after user engagement fell sharply and a licensing deal with Disney fell apart. The retreat from Sora is instructive. It suggests that even within OpenAI, there is a growing recognition that not every frontier of generative AI will prove commercially viable, at least not on the timelines that venture-stage valuations demand. The AI boom that powered record growth in 2025 was driven overwhelmingly by enterprise adoption and coding tools, not consumer novelty. OpenAI's CFO Sarah Friar has said the company will focus on "practical adoption" in 2026, a signal that the prioritisation of revenue-generating products over experimental ones is now explicit strategy. The decision to open the round to individual investors is notable for several reasons. It broadens OpenAI's shareholder base ahead of an IPO, creating a constituency of retail supporters who will have a financial interest in the company's public debut succeeding. OpenAI will also be included in several exchange-traded funds managed by ARK Invest, further extending ownership to a class of investors who have historically had no access to pre-IPO AI companies. But $3 billion from retail investors, while symbolically significant, represents less than 2.5 per cent of the total round. The real capital, and the real leverage, remains with a handful of corporate and institutional backers whose strategic interests extend well beyond financial returns. Amazon's $50 billion investment, for instance, is as much about securing AI infrastructure for its cloud computing division as it is about portfolio returns. Nvidia's $30 billion cements its position as the indispensable hardware provider to the AI industry. SoftBank, which secured a $40 billion bridge loan to fund its commitment, is betting that AI will be the defining investment thesis of the decade. The capital being deployed is, by any historical standard, staggering. But OpenAI framed it in infrastructural terms, comparing the investment to the buildout of foundational technology layers. "The capital being deployed today is helping build the infrastructure layer for intelligence itself," the company said. It is the kind of language designed to make $122 billion sound not like a bet but like an inevitability. Whether the market agrees will depend on what OpenAI does next. The company that other firms are restructuring themselves to compete with must now demonstrate that its revenue trajectory can sustain a valuation that exceeds the GDP of most countries. At $852 billion, OpenAI is no longer a startup being judged by its potential. It is being judged, increasingly, by the gap between what it promises and what it delivers.

OpenAI raises additional money to bring record funding round to $120 billion, CFO tells Cramer

"It didn't matter where you went, people really believed in this AI revolution and they wanted to put their money to work behind it," Friar said. OpenAI is raising an additional $10 billion from investors as part of its historic funding round, CFO Sarah Friar told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday. The fresh capital brings OpenAI's record fundraise to "north of $120 billion," Friar said in an interview on "Mad Money." That well exceeds the ChatGPT creator's initial target of $100 billion. OpenAI announced the first tranche of investment in late February, and it's been seen as potentially its last private fundraise before a potential blockbuster initial public offering. Andreessen Horowitz, D.E. Shaw, MGX, TPG and T. Rowe Price are participants in the new $10 billion commitment, according to Friar. Additionally, Microsoft, a longtime investor in OpenAI and one of its major computing providers, is joining this part of the funding round. While the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI has evolved, Friar called Microsoft "an incredible partner" and complimented its CEO, Satya Nadella, for being "there early." "What I'm really pleased about is we raised money all around the ecosystem," Friar told Cramer, pointing to involve from venture capital firms, private equity players, mutual funds and sovereign entities. "It didn't matter where you went, people really believed in this AI revolution and they wanted to put their money to work behind it," she added. Friar's update Tuesday come roughly a month after OpenAI initially announced a $110 billion raise at a $730 billion pre-money valuation. In that wave, Amazon invested $50 billion, while Nvidia and SoftBank each committed $30 billion. In addition to its investment, Amazon announced a multi-year partnership with OpenAI. The companies will build custom models that will support Amazon's customer-facing applications. OpenAI also said that it will expand its existing $38 billion agreement with Amazon's cloud computing division by $100 billion over the next eight years. "We're super excited about this deal," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC after the funding news last month. "AI is going to happen everywhere. It's transforming the whole economy, and the world needs a lot of collective computing power to meet the demand." OpenAI, which was founded in 2015, has seen unprecedented growth since launching ChatGPT in late 2022. The viral chatbot has amassed 900 million weekly active users, and the startup raked in roughly $13.1 billion in revenue last year, CNBC has reported.

OpenAI, parent firm of ChatGPT, raises $122bn in new funding amid AI boom

Company said it achieved valuation of $852bn, mentioning in a blog post it generates $2bn a month in revenue OpenAI announced on Tuesday it had closed a fundraising round of $122bn. The company behind ChatGPT said it had achieved a valuation of $852bn, cementing its status among the most highly valued privately held companies in the world. "AI is driving productivity gains, accelerating scientific discovery, and expanding what people and organizations can build. This funding gives us the resources to continue to lead at the scale this moment demands," read a company blog post announcing the funding. "Let's go build." The company further said it generates $2bn a month in revenue.

OpenAI set to raise about $10 billion from MGX, Coatue, Thrive - The Economic Times

OpenAI is nearing a deal to raise about $10 billion from venture investors, lifting its latest funding round to roughly $120 billion. Backers include MGX, Coatue Management, Thrive Capital, and Altimeter Capital. The deal would support its push for computing power and talent, marking its largest funding round yet.OpenAI is nearing a deal to raise about $10 billion from venture investors, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing the total haul from its latest funding round to roughly $120 billion. Abu Dhabi's MGX, Coatue Management and Thrive Capital are set to participate in the round at a $730 billion valuation, not including the money raised, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information. Altimeter Capital is also planning to put in money, the people said. The investments are expected to be finalised by the end of this month, the people said. Talks are ongoing and the final amount could change. The ChatGPT maker announced last month that it had finalized a deal to raise $110 billion in funding from Amazon.com Inc., Nvidia Corp. and SoftBank Group Corp. Bloomberg News previously reported OpenAI planned to seek more money from venture firms before completing the round. OpenAI declined to comment. Representatives for Coatue, MGX, Thrive and Altimeter did not respond to requests for comment. The deal marks OpenAI's largest funding round to date and bolsters its costly push to secure more computing power and talent for AI development. The additional capital would bring OpenAI's valuation to around $850 billion, including the money raised. OpenAI rival Anthropic PBC completed a deal last month to raise $30 billion from investors at a $380 billion valuation. MGX co-led that funding round.

OpenAI Set For $850B Valuation In Blockbuster Raise Backed By Wall Street Giants - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

OpenAI is closing in on an $850 billion valuation as it finalizes a new $10 billion venture‑capital raise. The funding, expected to wrap up next week, would lift the total amount raised by the company in the current round to about $120 billion, Bloomberg reported. OpenAI's latest raise marks a dramatic escalation in a funding journey that began far more modestly. The company started in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab backed by roughly $1 billion in commitments from early supporters like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Reid Hoffman. Big Money, Bigger Moves Ahead Its shift to a "capped‑profit" structure in 2019 opened the door to outside investment, leading to Microsoft's multibillion‑dollar partnership and a series of increasingly large rounds that transformed OpenAI into one of the most heavily funded startups in history. The new deal pushing its valuation toward $850 billion represents the most aggressive step yet in that evolution. OpenAI said this week that it would discontinue its Sora video platform, just a few months after its launch. The app is being shut down to allow the company to focus on other priorities, it told CNN. The artificial intelligence company is also offering a compelling proposition to private equity firms, presenting a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% as it seeks to establish joint ventures aimed at expanding enterprise AI adoption. This move comes as OpenAI competes with Anthropic, which has not offered similar returns, to secure partnerships with buyout firms, according to a Reuters report. Photo: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

OpenAI raises $122 billion to build AI superapp By Investing.com

Investing.com -- OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round on Tuesday at a post-money valuation of $852 billion, the company announced. The round was anchored by Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank, with continued participation from Microsoft. SoftBank co-led the round alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Additional participants included Altimeter, Appaloosa LP, ARK Invest, affiliated funds of BlackRock, Blackstone, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, Dragoneer, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Goanna Capital, Insight Partners, The Paragon Group, Sands Capital, Sequoia Capital, Sound Ventures, Temasek, Thrive Capital, UC Investments, and Winslow Capital. OpenAI raised over $3 billion from individual investors through bank channels. The company will be included in several exchange-traded funds managed by ARK Invest. OpenAI expanded its revolving credit facility to approximately $4.7 billion, supported by JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Mizuho, Royal Bank of Canada, SMBC, UBS, HSBC, and Santander. The facility remains undrawn. ChatGPT has more than 900 million weekly active users and over 50 million subscribers. The company generates $2 billion in revenue per month. Enterprise revenue now makes up more than 40% of total revenue and is on track to reach parity with consumer revenue by the end of 2026. OpenAI recently launched GPT-5.4. The company's APIs process more than 15 billion tokens per minute. Codex serves over 2 million weekly users, up 5 times in the past three months. OpenAI is building a unified AI superapp that will bring together ChatGPT, Codex, browsing, and agentic capabilities into one experience. The company expanded its infrastructure strategy across multiple cloud partners, including Microsoft, Oracle, AWS, CoreWeave, and Google Cloud, and multiple chip platforms, including NVIDIA, AMD, AWS Trainium, Cerebras, and a chip in partnership with Broadcom.

OpenAI raises $122bn, edging closer to an IPO

OpenAI has finalized a $122bn financing round, exceeding the $110bn initially announced, and bringing its valuation to $852bn. The deal was co-led by SoftBank, with participation from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and D. E. Shaw Ventures. For the first time, the company also opened the round to individual investors through banking channels, raising approximately $3bn in additional capital. Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, OpenAI has established itself as a pivotal player in artificial intelligence, boasting over 900 million weekly active users and more than 50 million subscribers. The company now generates approximately $2bn in monthly revenue, following a turnover of $13.1bn in 2025, while remaining loss-making due to massive investments in infrastructure and technological development. This capital hike comes as OpenAI adjusts its strategy to improve profitability and prepare the markets for a potential initial public offering. Supported by major partners such as Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank, and Microsoft, the group seeks to consolidate its position in a rapidly expanding sector where capital requirements remain substantial.