OpenAI's Valuation Soars to $500 Billion Amid Rapid Growth and Potential Share Sale

OpenAI reportedly raises $8.3B at $300B valuation | TechCrunch

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has raised $8.3 billion at a $300 billion valuation, reports The New York Times. The deal is part of OpenAI's broader strategy to secure $40 billion this year. The oversubscribed round came months ahead of schedule, per the NYT. OpenAI initially raised $2.5 billion from VC firms in March when it announced its intention to raise $40 billion in a round spearheaded by Softbank. The AI giant had planned to take on an additional $7.5 billion by the end of the year, but beat itself to the punch as investors clamber to get onto its cap table amid impressive growth. On Thursday, The Information reported OpenAI hit $12 billion in annualized revenue and surpassed 700 million ChatGPT weekly active users. The Times today said that the number is closer to $13 billion, with projections to reach $20 billion by the end of the year. Other tailwinds include the Trump administration's AI Action Plan and talks with Microsoft that could help the startup reach its goal of becoming a true for-profit company. The Times reported that Dragoneer Investment Group, an under-the-radar investor, led the round with a startling $2.8 billion check. Many new investors participated in the round, including private equity giants Blackstone and TPG and mutual fund manager T. Rowe Price. Other participants include Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and Thrive Capital. Some early investors in OpenAI were reportedly dismayed by the smaller allocations they got in the round as the AI behemoth prioritized bringing on new strategic backers. TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for comment.

OpenAI in Talks for Share Sale Valuing Startup at $500 Billion

OpenAI is in early talks about a potential secondary sale of stock for current and former employees at a valuation of about $500 billion, people briefed on the investment discussions said, marking an enormous gain in value for the artificial intelligence leader. The company is targeting a stock sale in the billions of dollars, the people said, asking to remain anonymous because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Existing investors including Thrive Capital have approached OpenAI about buying some of the employee shares, the people said.

OpenAI in Talks for Share Sale at $500 Billion Valuation

OpenAI is in early talks about a potential sale of stock for current and former employees at a valuation of about $500 billion, people briefed on the investment discussions said. The company is targeting a secondary stock sale in the billions of dollars, the people said, asking to remain anonymous because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. If the deal goes ahead, it would elevate OpenAI's on-paper price tag by roughly two-thirds. Its previous valuation stood at $300 billion in a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank Group Corp. -- making it one of the largest privately held companies in the world. Representatives for OpenAI and Thrive declined to comment. The company is also is providing access to its ChatGPT product to US federal agencies at a nominal cost of $1 a year as part of a push to get its AI chatbot more widely adopted. Shirin Ghaffary reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

OpenAI eyes $500 billion valuation in potential employee share sale, source says

Aug 5 (Reuters) - ChatGPT maker OpenAI is in early talks for a potential secondary stock sale that would allow current and former employees to sell shares, valuing the company at around $500 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Bloomberg was first to report the news. The Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab-backed company aims to raise billions through the sale, with existing investors, including Thrive Capital, expressing interest in buying some of the employee shares, the source said. Thrive Capital declined to comment on a Reuters request. Separately, OpenAI is still in the process of raising $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 tools. Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Yazhini MV in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

OpenAI's valuation is tech boom's key man risk

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investors throwing cash at artificial intelligence face a glaring risk: OpenAI. True, the ChatGPT maker's breakneck growth offers plenty to get excited about, with annualized revenue on track to triple this year. But its potential sudden jump from a $300 billion valuation to $500 billion, as Reuters reported on Wednesday, implies immense faith in a still-immature business model. If that faith is tested, chatbot makers following in its wake will suffer. The firm led by Sam Altman ignited the AI frenzy when it launched ChatGPT in 2022. It is now expected to hit, opens new tab 700 million weekly active users in August. Fewer than 10% actually pay for monthly subscription plans costing either $20 or $200, a person familiar with the matter told Breakingviews. The hope is that overall adoption grows so rapidly that this small slice covers the cost of responding to queries, which requires vast computational grunt. OpenAI also dominates, opens new tab enterprise adoption, capturing 34% of U.S. businesses that pay for AI as of June, according to research firm Ramp. That outpaces rival Anthropic's 10%, which is also seeking a new fundraising round at a $170 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg - nearly triple its last mark in March. Both are notching incredible sales growth. OpenAI's annualized revenue is on track to hit $20 billion by year-end, according to Reuters, up from $5.5 billion last year. Anthropic, buoyed by its model's talent for coding, may hit $4 billion according to Bloomberg, opens new tab, up from $1 billion at the end of 2024, as reported by Reuters citing sources. Whether this justifies the funding frenzy is another matter. Assume the best-case scenario: that these wildly cash-burning businesses achieve a 27% free cash flow margin by 2030, in line with Alphabet or Microsoft. Apply a 10% discount rate and 3% terminal growth, and OpenAI and Anthropic's valuations imply revenue of over $225 billion and $75 billion in five years, respectively. AI chip darling Nvidia is projected to hit just $350 billion by then, according to Visible Alpha. This is a young market, and use cases are vast, but cracks are starting to show. Early struggles and glitches mean 42% of companies have scrapped AI deployments this year, up from 17% in 2024, according to S&P Global, opens new tab. That's problematic because AI is all about scale. It's incredibly expensive to both train models and to serve them through the cloud. OpenAI wants to build its own data centers to control costs, but those efforts take time. Meanwhile, moves like giving away free-to-use, "open" models could cannibalize users. Investors seem to believe that OpenAI and its ilk can outgrow these problems. If Altman stumbles, despite all of his advantages, this load-bearing assumption will collapse. The order of the day is ever-expanding addressable markets, ever-more-grandiose claims about the power of the tech. Without either, the economics just do not work. Follow Karen Kwok on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. Context News* ChatGPT maker OpenAI is in early-stage discussions about an employee stock sale that could value the company at about $500 billion, Reuters reported on August 6, citing a source familiar with the matter. It comes after OpenAI announced a funding round at a valuation of $300 billion in March. * Anthropic is nearing a deal to raise as much as $5 billion in a new round of funding that would value the artificial intelligence startup at $170 billion, Bloomberg reported on July 29. Anthropic raised $3.5 billion at a $61.5 billion post-money valuation in March. Editing by Jonathan Guilford; Production by Maya Nandhini * Suggested Topics: * Breakingviews Breakingviews Reuters Breakingviews is the world's leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day. A global team of about 30 correspondents in New York, London, Hong Kong and other major cities provides expert analysis in real time. Sign up for a free trial of our full service at https://www.breakingviews.com/trial and follow us on Twitter @Breakingviews and at www.breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors. Karen Kwok Thomson Reuters Karen is a columnist focusing on global technology and venture capital sectors, writing stories about artificial intelligence, fintech, and semiconductor companies. She also covers deals in the Middle East region and global metal mining sector. Prior to Breakingviews, she was a European gas and power reporter at S&P Global Platts in London and covered funds and equities at Morningstar UK. Karen also briefly worked at China Daily Europe and Bloomberg. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

OpenAI raises $8.3 billion as paid ChatGPT users reach 5 million

The fresh capital comes as the artificial intelligence company's business accelerates. Annual recurring revenue jumped to $13 billion, up from $10 billion in June, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential financial information, and is projected to top $20 billion by year-end. Paid business users of ChatGPT have climbed to five million from three million just months ago, they said. The round was completed ahead of schedule and was five times oversubscribed. DealBook was first to report the transaction. The raise underscores surging investor appetite for AI platforms as competition intensifies among leading model makers. Dragoneer Investment Group contributed $2.8 billion to the round, the person said, joining Blackstone, TPG, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Altimeter, D1 Capital, Tiger Global, and Thrive Capital. While Dragoneer was the largest investor in this latest tranche of funding, SoftBank remains the lead backer of the broader $40 billion fundraising effort.

OpenAI in talks with investors about share sale at $500 billion valuation

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on July 8, 2025. OpenAI is in talks with investors about a potential stock sale at a valuation of roughly $500 billion, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. The talks are in early stages and would involve a secondary sale with shares sold by current and former employees, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are confidential. Thrive Capital, an investor in OpenAI, could lead the potential round, the sources said. Bloomberg was first to report on the latest talks. OpenAI's valuation has been on a continuous upswing since the artificial intelligence startup launched ChatGPT in late 2022 and quickly established itself as the leader in generative AI. The company announced a $40 billion funding round in March at a $300 billion, by far the largest amount ever raised by a private tech company. The company said earlier this week that ChatGPT was about to hit 700 million weekly active users. OpenAI rival Anthropic, meanwhile, is in talks to secure between $3 billion and $5 billion in new funding led by Iconiq Capital at a potential $170 billion valuation, up from $61.5 billion in March. CNBC previously reported that OpenAI's annual recurring revenue is projected to top $20 billion by year-end, up from $10 billion in June.

OpenAI Raises Another Funding Deal, From Dragoneer, Blackstone and More

Andrew here. It's a huge morning of news: We have an exclusive on OpenAI's latest fund-raising round, with some new boldfaced investor names and one big check; we sort through the latest tariff news and what comes next; we also dive into Figma's I.P.O. for the ages, and more. And stay tuned for the jobs numbers, which come out shortly. OpenAI's latest mega-round While Wall Street has been focused on how tech giants are spending on artificial intelligence, the most prominent name in the field, OpenAI, has been racking up big money as well. DealBook is first to report on the huge numbers, and what the round means for the company behind ChatGPT in the increasingly heated A.I. race. OpenAI has raised $8.3 billion at a $300 billion valuation, months ahead of schedule, as part of its plan to secure $40 billion in funding this year, DealBook has learned. Back in March, OpenAI announced its ambitious funding plans, with SoftBank committing to provide $30 billion by year-end. The start-up raised $2.5 billion from venture capital firms that same month, with plans to raise an additional $7.5 billion by the end of the year. Instead, the fund-raising came much sooner -- and over target. A wave of new investors participated in the round, including the private equity giants Blackstone and TPG, and the mutual fund manager T. Rowe Price. Other participants include Fidelity Management, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Tiger Global and Thrive Capital. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

OpenAI Is About to Make Employees Millionaires

It's a figure so large it almost loses meaning: $500 billion. That is the staggering valuation OpenAI, the company behind the revolutionary ChatGPT, could soon command. The company is in discussions with investors for a deal that would allow its current and former employees to sell their privately held shares, a source familiar with the matter told Gizmodo. This type of deal, known in financial jargon as a secondary sale or a tender offer, would more than double OpenAI's recent $260 billion valuation, catapulting Sam Altman's company into the same league as legacy tech titans like Costco. The news, first reported by The Information and Bloomberg, confirms the AI craze isn't slowing down. But more importantly, it reveals OpenAI's secret weapon in the brutal war for talent that is defining Silicon Valley. For the company's employees, it means a massive payday is coming. For its rivals, it's a clear signal that OpenAI is willing to pay any price to keep its geniuses in-house. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment. To understand why a private company is suddenly worth half a trillion dollars, you have to look beyond its technology and focus on its people. The world of elite AI research is remarkably small, and companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta are locked in a fierce battle to recruit and retain the few hundred minds capable of building the next generation of AI. Recently, this talent war has intensified, with Meta aggressively poaching top AI researchers from OpenAI, reportedly offering salaries well into the millions. How can OpenAI compete with guaranteed multi-million dollar paychecks? By turning its employees' stock options into real, life-altering wealth. According to the source, OpenAI and potential investors, including Thrive Capital (founded by Josh Kushner, Jared Kushner's brother), are discussing a deal that would let employees and alumni sell their stock. Based on past sales, many OpenAI staffers could pocket anywhere from $2 million to $10 million each, depending on their equity. This is the power of "golden handcuffs." An engineer might be tempted by a rival's massive salary, but it's much harder to walk away when your current company is allowing you to cash out millions while your remaining stock continues to skyrocket in value. The deal transforms "paper wealth" into a tangible fortune, creating a powerful incentive to stay and see how much higher the valuation can climb. This financial maneuver comes as OpenAI is on a tear. The company’s annualized revenue has nearly doubled to $12 billion in just a few months, driven by the massive adoption of ChatGPT and its enterprise products. OpenAI also recently secured $8.3 billion in new investment commitments as part of a larger $40 billion funding round. This massive influx of capital is a war chest. Investors are betting that OpenAI is poised for even bigger things, with the highly anticipated launch of GPT-5 expected in the coming weeks. A powerful new model could give it a decisive edge over its main rivals, including Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude. This financial muscle will allow OpenAI to accelerate its research, acquire complementary technologies, and invest in the incredibly expensive computing power needed to train more advanced models. At a time when all major players are in a race to build Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)â€"AI systems smarter than humansâ€"OpenAI now has the resources to lead the pack. But such a high valuation also raises the stakes. OpenAI will be under immense pressure to deliver on the transformative potential its valuation implies, all while navigating the complex ethical and societal challenges that come with creating world-changing technology. This $500 billion figure confirms OpenAI is the undisputed face of the AI revolution. But it also raises a fundamental question. The company was founded as a non-profit dedicated to ensuring AI benefits all of humanity. Now, it operates as a hyper-capitalist rocket ship, fueled by venture capital and creating immense wealth for a select few. Does the future of AI belong to investors chasing returns and the engineers cashing in, or is there still room for the original mission of building something for everyone? As OpenAI's valuation soars into the stratosphere, that question becomes more urgent than ever.

OpenAI in talks on share sale that would price it at more than Musk's SpaceX

If transaction goes ahead value of ChatGPT developer would rise to $500bn OpenAI is reportedly in early talks about a sale of shares held by current and former employees that would price the ChatGPT developer at half a trillion dollars, overtaking Elon Musk's SpaceX in valuation. If the transaction goes ahead, the value of the San Francisco-based company would rise by about two-thirds, from $300bn (£225bn). The valuation would exceed that of Musk's rocket company, which is currently worth $350bn and is reportedly circling a $400bn price tag in a new fundraising. Bloomberg, which first reported the OpenAI talks, said existing investors, including Thrive Capital, have approached the company about buying employee shares. Other investors in OpenAI include the Japanese investment firm SoftBank, which led the $300bn financing, and Microsoft. OpenAI declined to comment. Thrive Capital has been approached for comment. Tech startups are known to arrange employee share sales to motivate staff and bring in investors. OpenAI is also under competitive pressure from Mark Zuckerberg's Meta to retain leading staff members, with a share sale possibly offering an incentive to stay. The Facebook parent has poached staff from OpenAI and others in a hiring drive to build an AI "superintelligence" unit. OpenAI's chief executive, Sam Altman, has said Meta had taken "none of our best people" despite offering "crazy" signing bonuses of $100m (£74m). Anthropic, another rival, founded by former OpenAI employees, is reportedly in negotiations for a fundraising valuing the business at $170bn. Fundraising is an continuing requirement for AI startups as they seek finance to train the increasingly sophisticated models that power their products, which involves using expensive computer chips and data centre capacity. The report comes as Altman indicated that OpenAI was preparing to release an upgraded version of the model powering ChatGPT. On Sunday he shared a screenshot of what appeared to be the company's latest AI model, GPT-5. OpenAI also launched two new open models on Tuesday, meaning they can be downloaded freely and customised, in a competitive challenge to Meta and China's DeepSeek, which have also launched open AI models. "We're excited to make this model, the result of billions of dollars of research, available to the world to get AI into the hands of the most people possible," said Altman. However, OpenAI's main business is based on "closed" models whose inner workings cannot be accessed, and charging for subscriptions for enhanced versions of ChatGPT or integrating its models into businesses. OpenAI, which is structured as a non-profit entity with a profit-making arm, is in talks to become a for-profit business, with the long-running negotiations yet to conclude amid reports of wrangling with Microsoft. It is also pushing into hardware after buying a startup, io, owned by the iPhone designer Sir Jony Ive in a $6.4bn deal. Altman reportedly told employees that OpenAI planned to build 100m AI "companions" that would be part of users' everyday life.

ChatGPT firm OpenAI could be valued at $500bn in share sale - business live

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. The artificial intelligence boom is continuing to excite investors, creating the possibility of huge earnings for the companies and individuals at the heart of the AI race. Overnight, news has broken that OpenAI, the group behind the ChatGPT chatbot, is in talks about a share sale that would value the company at $500bn. That would be a serious jump on OpenAI's previous valuation of $300bn, set in a financing round in March, and underline its status as one of the largest privately held companies in the world. The talks centre on a potential sale of stock for current and former employees, Bloomberg reports, adding that existing investors including Thrive Capital have approached OpenAI about buying some of these shares. As OpenAI isn't listed on the stock market, such a secondary stock sale would allow present and ex-staff to cash in. The mooted share sale comes as companies race to test, and roll out, artificial intelligence systems, which has sent the value of chipmaker Nvidia surging over $4trn last month Shares in Palantir, the software analytics and AI company, jumped almost 8% yesterday after it beat Wall Street estimates and hiked its full-year guidance due to the artificial intelligence boom. OpenAI is riding this wave too. The Financial Times reports that OpenAI's annual recurring revenue -- a measure of expected revenue from subscriptions commonly used by start-ups -- has surged to $12bn, and the company is apparently expecting $20bn or more in ARR by the end of 2025. Yesterday, OpenAI launched new freely available artificial intelligence models, in a challenge to rivals including Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and Chinese rival DeepSeek. The ChatGPT developer has announced two "open weight" large language models, which are free to download and can be customised by developers Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, said the company was excited to add to a stack of freely available AI models "based on democratic values ... and for wide benefit", adding:

What OpenAI's $500 billion valuation means for stock investors

Why it matters: Amid calls of a market bubble, the lofty valuation provides justification for sky-high AI stock prices. Driving the news: OpenAI is weighing a secondary stock sale, Primack says, as first reported by Bloomberg. * The deal would increase its valuation by nearly two-thirds. * The tech company's previous valuation was $300 billion. What they're saying: "This is an AI Revolution, and OpenAI is the golden child," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives tells Axios. * The valuation for OpenAI could "hit a trillion," according to a note from Ben Emons, chief investment officer and founder at FedWatch Advisors. * That could drive growth in sectors like semiconductors and chips. Zoom out: The OpenAI valuation mirrors companies with exposure to AI driving the market. * Fewer stocks are trading above their 200-day moving averages, and the number of stocks climbing versus declining is decreasing, Emons notes. * That means a smaller number of stocks that are already expensive are driving the broader market, which leads to concentration concerns. * However, if valuations are justified by earnings growth, then investors are right to be getting in, regardless of the elevated prices. Zoom in: Emons highlights more baskets of stocks with AI exposure are outperforming the Magnificent 7. * That could indicate investor appetite for lesser-known AI plays like S.K. Hynix (up 50% this year) or Vertiv (up 17% this year), as the Magnificent 7 stocks become more expensive and aren't performing as well on a year-to-date return basis. * As Axios Markets has reported, the AI supercycle ETF is up 23% year-to-date, versus the Magnificent 7 gaining 6.2% in the same timeframe. Yes, but: The OpenAI valuation could justify the prices of Magnificent 7 stocks with heavy AI exposure. Be smart: Tech stocks are historically overvalued at the beginning of a technological supercycle. * If you worried about valuations, you would have missed every tech rally in history, according to Ives. The intrigue: OpenAI's employee stock sale also points to the increasingly delayed IPO process for startups. * Employees used to stick around for a firm to go public. But that's taking longer and longer, and companies like OpenAI are finding new ways to reward employees in the interim. The bottom line: OpenAI's valuation expansion gives investors a welcome sign that they may be right to ignore prices and keep betting on AI.

OpenAI's reported $500 billion valuation signals AI euphoria

Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI. The company has just moved to enhance users' privacy. And this week saw the Sam Altman-led company unveil its long-awaited GPT-5, along with a sweeping U.S. government partnership. There's also a key number now in the mix: $500 billion, the reported new valuation OpenAI is set to hit amid a share sale. That half-a-trillion number -- up from $300 billion -- is stunning on many levels. I'll spare you the obligatory market cap comparisons ("that's the equivalent of 10 Ford Motor companies!"). Wild though the prospective valuation may seem, it also poses important questions about where we are in the cycle of this AI boom. Venture funding, overall, isn't booming as much as you'd expect. According to new Crunchbase data, global venture funding hit $29.7 billion in July, down from $43 billion in June. AI, of course, continues to attract most of the action, accounting for 37%, or $11 billion, of the July funding numbers. And for the top-tier AI deals, valuations are breathlessly high, and that's not just the case for OpenAI: Anthropic's reportedly heading towards $170 billion, Perplexity's reportedly at $18 billion, and Elon Musk's xAI (yes, also reportedly) is chasing a valuation of $200 billion. This is all happening quickly, said Nnamdi Okike, cofounder and managing partner of 645 Ventures. "Many companies are raising huge amounts of money in very short periods of time," he told Fortune. "Even when there's fundamental substance behind the rounds, that means there's typically some dislocation. If you zoom out, how many winners are there really going to be? That's the really important question. With a rising tide, what typically gets missed is that -- in most markets -- there are only a couple winners. It might be the case that these fast-rising valuations are justified for one or two of those winners. But it's certainly not the case that rapidly increasing valuations are justified across the board." Okike does think OpenAI could be a long-term winner. But he's also a history buff, noting that broadly we're seeing classic signals of market euphoria and potential bubbles. "History teaches us that when valuations go up very rapidly, when round sizes and valuations are higher than they've ever been, those signs indicate euphoria," said Okike, who sees echoes of the Dotcom bust and the search engine wars. "They indicate potential bubble-like qualities, and that investors should be very careful when rounds and prices increase as quickly as they're increasing." Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today's newsletter. Subscribe here. - Firefly Aerospace, a Cedar Park, Texas-based space and defense technology company, raised $868 million in an offering of 19.3 million shares priced at $45 on the Nasdaq. The company posted $108 million in revenue for the year ending March 31, 2025.

OpenAI's latest funding round was so popular early investors were reportedly miffed about getting smaller allocations to make room for new partners

Back in March, OpenAI announced a plan to raise up to $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation by the end of the year, with $10 billion becoming immediately available (thanks to SoftBank, which footed 75% of the bill), and the remaining $30 billion arriving by the end of the year. On Friday, OpenAI made strong headway on its financial plans, raising another $8.3 billion at that same $300 billion valuation, The New York Times' DealBook was first to report. Demand for the round was off the charts -- it was five times oversubscribed, according to the NYT -- which meant many early investors participating in the new round were reportedly frustrated by getting smaller allocations so OpenAI could prioritize new backers. One of those first-time investors in OpenAI was Marc Stad's Dragoneer Investment Group, an early investor in Spotify and Uber. Dragoneer wrote a massive $2.8 billion check, which led the latest fundraise and means OpenAI now represents roughly 10% of the firm's funds. The round also included some other new investors, including T. Rowe Price, as well as a pair of giants from the private-equity world, TPG and BlackStone. Other participants in the round included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Fidelity Management, Thrive Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Coatue Management, and Tiger Global. The New York Times' DealBook reports OpenAI's annual recurring revenue, which was reported as $10 billion in June, now exceeds $13 billion just two months later, and may pass the $20 billion mark by year's end. To offer some context: Anthropic, OpenAI's nearest rival in terms of revenue and capital raised, has $14.3 billion in lifetime fundraising, and its valuation is $61.5 billion as of March -- though it is currently in talks to raise another $5 billion at a $170 billion valuation. Perplexity AI, another rival, raised $100 million last month, bringing its valuation to $18 billion. Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has raised $10 billion at a reported $80 billion valuation, though current fundraising efforts could bring that number up to $200 billion. Of course, all of this money brings OpenAI closer to an initial public offering. The company is currently in the midst of restructuring itself to become a for-profit company (which requires a green light from Microsoft), so there is still no announced timeline for an IPO. But the latest round means OpenAI has raised more than any other AI company by a wide margin, which gives it the upper hand in the red-hot sector. OpenAI might face a true challenge, though, from some of the more established Silicon Valley giants, including Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pouring billions into AI resources, including talent; its $72 billion AI infrastructure spend is almost 80% higher than OpenAI's entire fundraising round this year. Meta is also the sixth-most valuable company in the world with a market cap approaching $2 trillion. OpenAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

OpenAI just raised another $8.3 billon in a funding round that values it at an unbelievable $300B, surpassing AMD, Coca-Cola, and General Electric

OpenAI's business model is, at bottom, pretty simple. Sam Altman gets up on a stage somewhere, burbles a few lines about how AI is going to radically upend society and cure cancer, and then shareholders fall over themselves in a frenzied rush to thrust money upon this economic miracle-to-be. OpenAI sells subscriptions to users, sure, but the real profit is in the promises. As reported by the New York Times' Dealbook, OpenAI has raised $8.3 billion in a new funding round that values the company at $300 billion. This news comes ahead of schedule: OpenAI's last crazy investment round was the announcement of a $30 billion deal with SoftBank, on top of which it raised another $2.5 billion from VC firms, before saying it planned to raise another $7.5 billion by the end of the year. Job done, and handsomely, with five months to go. The Dragoneer Investment Group is in there with an enormous $2.8 billion investment: even in the world of venture capital, this is an extraordinary sum for one firm to commit. The NYT's DealBook reckons it "may be one of the largest [checks] ever written" by a single investment firm. Many other firms took part in the funding round, which was apparently five times oversubscribed. OpenAI may well come up with a defining piece of technology that actually changes the world: but so far, it hasn't. Not even close. ChatGPT certainly has its uses, but... $300 billion is a valuation that reckons OpenAI (which is not yet publicly listed) is worth more than Coca-Cola ($296 billion), AMD ($278 billion) and General Electric ($285 billion). A notable element of this news was an anonymous OpenAI employee that spoke to both DealBook and CNBC, claiming that the company's annual recurring revenue has "soared" to $13 billion and they project it will top $20 billion by the end of the year. There are also apparently now five million business users. I am not sure any of these numbers should be taken at face value, nor why OpenAI staff feel the need to anonymously tell outlets that the numbers are looking great, homie. So many big tech firms are so heavily invested in AI now that there's a sense of inevitability about the tech creeping into everything. There are great use cases and not-so-great use cases (among AI's biggest crimes is making Google search useless). But all of this is predicated on a product that, as of yet, hasn't delivered on the more grandiose promises made by its backers. Maybe it will. But $300 billion seems like an awfully big bet on "maybe."

OpenAI more valuable than SpaceX? Investors seem to think so

In a sure signal that Silicon Valley investors are all in on AI, reported investor talks could value OpenAI at $500bn, overtaking Elon Musk's SpaceX as the most valuable privately-held tech company in the world. If reports are true that OpenAI's next round of investment will value it at $500bn, then AI has truly taken over as the venture capital darling in Silicon Valley. Many will question whether an AI software company can really have that intrinsic value, but OpenAI is pushing the boundaries as investors pile in on the AI boom. Sources have told Bloomberg that existing investors that include Thrive Capital have approached the company about buying back some former and existing employee shares, a so called secondary stock sale in the billions. It would be an almost unprecedented rise in value in such a short space of time. OpenAI had recently been valued at $300bn after the Softbank-led financing round of $40bn in March of this year. For those of us who were around for the infamous dot come bubble, alarms might ring, but there is no question that OpenAI has stolen the march when it comes to widespread use of the technology, with ChatGPT becoming synonymous with everyday generative AI use, despite a highly competitive market. OpenAI doubled its revenue in the first seven months of the year, reaching an annualised run rate of $12bn, and is on track to reach $20bn by the end of 2025, a source told Reuters. The Microsoft-backed start-up is estimated to have some 700m weekly active users for its ChatGPT products - up from 400m in February. OpenAI goes Open Yesterday OpenAI announced its first two open AI reasoning models, to compete with China's Deepseek and Moonshot releases, among others. These open models allow the software to run on local hardware should an organisation desire, and one of the models can even run on a laptop, requiring just 16GB. OpenAI's Sam Altman had announced just last month (July) that its first open-source model would be delayed indefinitely for safety reasons. And Chinese Alibaba-backed start-up Moonshot launched its new open-source AI model onto the market in the shape of Kimi 2, hoping to take on DeepSeek and other local Chinese rivals - as well as it's US counterparts. The two new models, GPT-oss-120b and GPT-oss-20b, will be made available to download on Hugging Face and focus on text and coding, rather than images or videos for now. "The weights for both gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b are freely available for download on Hugging Face and come natively quantized in MXFP4," said OpenAI. "This allows for the gpt-oss-120B model to run within 80GB of memory, while gpt-oss-20b only requires 16GB." "A healthy open model ecosystem is one dimension to helping make AI widely accessible and beneficial for everyone," OpenAI said in its launch post. "We invite developers and researchers to use these models to experiment, collaborate and push the boundaries of what's possible." 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 reportedly raises $8.3B in funding after annualized revenue tops $13B - SiliconANGLE

OpenAI reportedly raises $8.3B in funding after annualized revenue tops $13B OpenAI has reportedly raised $8.3 billion from investors as part of a funding round that could eventually be worth up to $40 billion. Sources told the New York Times today that Dragoneer led the deal. The asset manager, which reportedly made a $2.3 billion investment, was joined by a dozen other institutional backers. The group included T. Rowe Price, Blackstone, Sequoia, Tiger Global and other prominent investors. OpenAI reportedly closed the deal several months earlier than originally planned. According to the Times, the ChatGPT developer gave existing investors smaller allocations than they had sought in order to prioritize new backers. The report described the deal as oversubscribed. The strong investor interest in the raise may have been driven by OpenAI's latest set of growth milestones. According to the Times, the artificial intelligence provider's annualized recurring revenue recently topped $13 billion. OpenAI is believed to have 5 million paying business customers and 700 million weekly active users. The early momentum of OpenAI for Countries may have also boosted investor interest in the funding round. Launched in May, OpenAI for Countries is an initiative that will see the AI provider help governments build local AI infrastructure. On Thursday, OpenAI announced plans to build a data center in Norway with 230 megawatts of initial capacity. The facility will be equipped with 100,000 Nvidia Corp. graphics cards by the end of 2026. OpenAI earlier inked an agreement to build a 5-gigawatt AI data center campus in Abu Dhabi. OpenAI's latest $8.3 billion raise is part of a larger funding round that could be worth as much as $40 billion. In March, CNBC reported that SoftBank Group Corp. is set to provide $30 billion while the rest will come from other backers. The Japanese conglomerate's investment is contingent on the completion of a restructuring initiative that OpenAI launched earlier this year. Currently, the ChatGPT developer operates as a nonprofit with a for-profit arm that leads its AI research and commercialization efforts. OpenAI plans to restructure the for-profit arm as a public benefit corporation by the end of the year. Beyond its role as an investor, SoftBank is a key participant in the ChatGPT developer's Stargate initiative. The program seeks to build a network of AI data centers for OpenAI at a cost of up to $500 million. SoftBank owns the Stargate trademark, while its SB Energy renewable energy subsidiary could reportedly play a role in some Starlink construction projects. OpenAI's latest raise comes amid rumors that Anthropic PBC is also seeking new funding. According to The Information, the company is in talks to raise a $5 billion round that could value it at $170 billion. Iconiq is expected to lead the investment with a $1 billion check. Like OpenAI, Anthropic is experiencing rapid sales growth. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the company's annualized revenue grew from $4 billion in early June to $5 billion by the end of the month. Anthropic expects to reach $9 billion by 2026.

OpenAI raises $8.3B at $300B valuation

OpenAI's latest funding round, which values the company at $300 billion, was five times oversubscribed amid surging investor demand for AI, according to The New York Times. OpenAI has raised $8.3 billion at a $300 billion valuation, accelerating its plan to secure $40 billion in funding by year's end. The latest round, led by Dragoneer Investment Group, comes after the company raised $2.5 billion in March. According to The New York Times on Friday, Dragoneer committed $2.8 billion to the raise, representing roughly 10% of its total funds. The funding round brings OpenAI closer to its 2025 target, which includes a $30 billion commitment from SoftBank. The funding round was five times oversubscribed, meaning investors wanted to invest roughly $40 billion, the Times said. OpenAI prioritized new strategic investors over existing backers, frustrating some investors who received smaller allocations than they hoped for. Other investors include Blackstone, TPG, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Altimeter Capital, Coatue Management, D1 Capital Partners, Thrive Capital and Tiger Global. A brief history of OpenAI OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever and others as a nonprofit research lab committed to ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits humanity. In 2019, it created a capped-profit subsidiary, OpenAI LP, to raise outside funding, securing a $1 billion investment from Microsoft and transitioning toward a more commercially driven model. OpenAI expects to generate $12.7 billion in total revenue in 2025, according to internal projections reported by Bloomberg in March. More recently, DealBook reported that the company's annual recurring revenue has reached $13 billion and is projected to surpass $20 billion by year-end. In September, OpenAI reported reaching 1 million paid users for its business-focused ChatGPT plans. ChatGPT has also dominated its Large Language Model competitors. Data from FirstPageSage shows it has steadily maintained more than 70% of the LLM market share since January 2024. Despite surging adoption, OpenAI doesn't expect to be cash-flow positive until 2029, when revenue could top $125 billion. AI-focused crypto projects attract fresh venture capital While OpenAI continues to attract record-breaking investment from traditional venture firms, the crypto industry is carving out its own AI frontier. A growing wave of decentralized AI startups is raising capital to build open-source, token-powered alternatives to proprietary models. In April, AI startup Nous Research raised $50 million in a Series A round led by Paradigm, valuing the company at $1 billion. Nous is developing open-source AI models on the Solana blockchain to provide decentralized alternatives to platforms like OpenAI and DeepSeek. In July, Poseidon raised $15 million in seed funding led by a16z Crypto. The US-based full-stack AI data layer aims to solve the shortage of high-quality, legally cleared training data for AI models by providing structured, real-world data sets that can be used without copyright concerns. Overall, crypto venture funding has surged in Q2 of 2025 to over $10 billion, its best quarter since early 2022. In June alone, $5.14 billion was raised.

OpenAI lands $8.3B at $300B valuation

Led by Dragoneer with $2.8 billion, OpenAI's round prioritized new firms like Blackstone, TPG, and T. Rowe Price over early backers. OpenAI secured $8.3 billion in funding at a $300 billion valuation, The New York Times reported, as part of its effort to raise $40 billion this year. The oversubscribed funding round concluded months ahead of schedule. OpenAI previously obtained $2.5 billion from venture capital firms in March when announcing its $40 billion target led by SoftBank. The company planned to secure an additional $7.5 billion by year's end but accelerated the process following intense investor interest during rapid growth. The Information reported OpenAI reached $12 billion in annualized revenue with over 700 million weekly active ChatGPT users. The New York Times revised the revenue estimate to approximately $13 billion, projecting $20 billion by late 2024. External factors include the Trump administration's AI Action Plan and ongoing Microsoft discussions, potentially supporting OpenAI's transition toward a for-profit structure. Dragoneer Investment Group led the round with a $2.8 billion investment. New participants included private equity firms Blackstone and TPG, mutual fund manager T. Rowe Price, Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and Thrive Capital. Early investors reportedly received smaller allocations as OpenAI prioritized new strategic backers.

OpenAI Eyes $500 Billion Valuation in Potential Employee Share Sale, Source Says

This would represent an eye-popping bump-up from OpenAI's current valuation of $300 billion. ChatGPT maker OpenAI is in early-stage discussions about a stock sale that would allow employees to cash out and could value the company at about $500 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. That would represent an eye-popping bump-up from its current valuation of $300 billion, with the sale underscoring both OpenAI's rapid gains in users and revenue as well as the intense competition among artificial intelligence firms to secure talented workers. The transaction, which would come before a potential IPO, would allow current and former employees to sell several billion dollars worth of shares, said the source, who requested anonymity because the talks are private. Bolstered by its flagship product ChatGPT, OpenAI doubled its revenue in the first seven months of the year, reaching an annualized run rate of $12 billion, and is on track to reach $20 billion by year-end, the source added. Microsoft-backed OpenAI has about 700 million weekly active users for its ChatGPT products, a surge from about 400 million in February. The share sale talks come on the heels of OpenAI's primary funding round announced earlier this year, which aims to raise $40 billion, led by Japan's SoftBank Group. SoftBank has until the end of the year to fund its $22.5 billion portion of the round, but the remainder has been subscribed at a valuation of $300 billion, the source said. Tech giants are competing aggressively for AI talent with lucrative compensation packages. Meta is notably investing billions in Scale AI to poach its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, so that he can lead its new super intelligence unit. Unlisted firms such as ByteDance, Databricks and Ramp have also used private share sales to help update a company's valuation and reward long-term employees. Existing investors in OpenAI, including Thrive Capital, are in discussions to participate in the employee share sale, the source said. Thrive Capital declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported the potential sale. OpenAI is working on a significant corporate restructuring that would move away from its current capped-profit model and open the door for an initial public offering in the future. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said in May, however, that an IPO would only come when the company and markets were ready. Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Edwina Gibbs. The final deadline for the 2025 Inc. Power Partner Awards is this Friday, August 8, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

OpenAI Is On Track to Become the World's Most Valuable Private Company

OpenAI is eyeing a $500 billion valuation as ChatGPT surges past 700 million weekly users. ChatGPT's continued popularity and ballooning user base is propelling OpenAI's market value to new heights. The A.I. giant is in talks to sell shares held by current and former employees at a valuation of around $500 billion, potentially making it the most valuable privately held company in the world, surpassing TikTok parent ByteDance and Elon Musk's SpaceX. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters The proposed secondary stock sale, first reported by Bloomberg, would not bring new capital into OpenAI but would instead allow insiders to cash out -- a common strategy used by fast-growing startups to retain talent and reward early employees. thrive capital, an existing investor in OpenAI, is reportedly in talks to lead the deal. If completed, the valuation jump would mark a nearly 67 percent increase from OpenAI's last reported valuation of $300 billion in March, following a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank. OpenAI's user base has surged alongside its valuation. ChatGPT recently surpassed 700 million weekly active users, up from 500 million in March, the company revealed this week. Users now exchange more than 3 billion messages daily on the chatbot, the company said. OpenAI makes money primarily through ChatGPT subscription plans ($20 a month) and licensing its A.I. models to enterprise clients and developers. While OpenAI has not confirmed profitability, CNBC reported the company is on track to hit $20 billion in annual revenue by the end of this year -- double what it projected just two months ago. On Tuesday, OpenAI released two "open weight" reasoning models, which the company claims outperform similarly sized open models on reasoning tasks at a low cost. The company is also preparing to launch GPT-5, its most advanced language model to date. In addition, in a move to expand government adoption, OpenAI recently struck a nominal $1-per-year licensing deal with U.S. federal agencies, enabling them to pilot and deploy OpenAI's tools across various public-sector applications. In May, OpenAI announced a $6.5 billion all-stock acquisition of io Products, an A.I. hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive. The deal signals OpenAI's ambitions to move beyond software and into A.I.-powered consumer devices. OpenAI isn't the only A.I. firm commanding sky-high valuations. Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is reportedly seeking a $170 billion valuation in its latest fundraising round. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's xAI, launched in 2023, is aiming for a valuation of up to $200 billion.

OpenAI in talks to sell employee shares at $500 billion valuation: Bloomberg

According to a report by Bloomberg News on Tuesday, ChatGPT creator OpenAI is in the early stages of discussions regarding a potential secondary share sale for current and former employees, which could value the company at around $500 billion. ChatGPT creator OpenAI is in early discussions about a potential secondary share sale, which could value the company at around $500 billion, according to Bloomberg. The deal would allow current and former employees to sell shares, with the total sale expected to be worth several billion dollars. Sources told Bloomberg that existing investors, including Thrive Capital, have approached OpenAI to buy shares from employees. OpenAI's previous $40 billion funding round, led by SoftBank, valued the company at $30 billion, placing it among the world's most valuable private firms. Secondary share sales like this are common in major US startups, helping to reward employees, retain talent, and bring in new investors. OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, hopes to use strong investor interest to give employees financial benefits that reflect the company's rapid growth. This development comes as OpenAI faces staff losses, with several researchers recently joining Meta. Meta has been aggressively hiring AI talent, including from Apple, Google and Microsoft, offering compensation packages reportedly reaching nine figures. A secondary share sale could help OpenAI retain key staff by providing them with a financial incentive to stay. This also follows last week's news that OpenAI secured $8.3 billion from a group of investors as part of the second tranche of its $40 billion funding round, which was reportedly oversubscribed by nearly five times. In other news, OpenAI announced on Tuesday the release of two open-weight language models. These models are designed for advanced reasoning and are optimised to run on laptops, performing similarly to OpenAI's smaller proprietary models. The company is also preparing to launch its next flagship model, GPT-5, as it aims to maintain its leadership in the highly competitive AI space.

OpenAI Bags $8.3 Billion At $300 Billion Valuation, Closes Round Early As Investors Rush In, Signaling Soaring Confidence And Quiet March Toward A Future IPO

OpenAI is focused on taking some major leaps to mark its place in the AI space and keeps on releasing products and initiatives that tend to reiterate its ambitious approach. Its recent move, however, can be termed as the biggest fundraising step in the tech industry, having the potential to reshape the power dynamics in the AI industry. The ChatGPT creator has been able to secure $8.3 billion in new funding, bringing its valuation to a massive $300 billion. The funds generated come from a mix of high-profile equity and venture capital firms meant to help the company establish itself as a long-term player in artificial intelligence. According to a New York Times report, the funding generated includes capital from both existing and new investors, which include Blackstone, TPG, T.Rowe Price, and Fidelity Management. This mix of seasoned venture firms and major institutional players emphasizes how OpenAI is stepping up to the same level as the other top-tier tech companies. The AI firm has been able to secure $8.3 billion in new funding that brings its valuation to a staggering $300 billion. It also fulfills the company's broader goal of pushing for $40 billion by the end of 2025. What seems even more interesting than the amount raised by OpenAI is how promptly it was able to do it. It was reportedly oversubscribed and wrapped up way ahead of schedule, reflecting how strong investor demand is. OpenAI as a brand was able to show such a remarkable transformation, especially considering that it was a non-profit organization not long ago. It also signifies the company pivoting in a bold and dramatic new direction. OpenAI is also determined to change its identity by positioning itself as a public tech company and laying the capital foundation for it, allowing it to lead and dominate in the AI space in both consumer and enterprise markets. While there would be growing competition from Google DeepMind, Meta, and Anthropic, the company would stay tall by its ability to scale responsibly and profitably, and even establish itself as a future pillar of the global tech economy. The funds raised signal more than just capital and trend; they represent the company's long-term vision and strategic timing. While the IPO has not been officially announced, we believe it is quite clear that OpenAI is ready to go public.

OpenAI Eyes Record $500 Billion Valuation In Employee Share Sale Amid AI Arms Race: Report - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is reportedly exploring a secondary stock sale that could value the artificial intelligence company at $500 billion, marking a significant jump from its current $300 billion valuation. Employee Share Sale Talks Underway The early-stage discussions would allow OpenAI employees to cash out their equity stakes while attracting new investment. Existing investors, including Thrive Capital, are participating in the talks, Reuters reported, citing sources. The potential $500 billion valuation represents a 67% increase from OpenAI's current $300 billion worth, established during a record-setting $40 billion funding round finalized in April. That round, led by SoftBank Group Corp. SFTBY with Microsoft Corp. MSFT participation, was the largest in venture capital history according to PitchBook data. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment. See Also: OpenAI, Palo Alto, SoftBank Deals Power $2.6 Trillion Global M&A Boom -- Biggest Since 2021 Pandemic Peak AI Talent War Drives Compensation Competition The share sale would provide financial incentives to retain top AI researchers as technology giants, including Meta Platforms Inc. META and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG compete aggressively with lucrative compensation packages. OpenAI's revenue surge to $13 billion annually, up from $10 billion in June, demonstrates the company's rapid scaling capabilities. The company now serves 700 million weekly active ChatGPT users and has grown its paid business subscribers to five million from three million in recent months. OpenAI projects revenue will exceed $20 billion by year-end. Market Context and Competitive Landscape OpenAI's valuation discussions occur as the AI sector experiences unprecedented investment flows. Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet are driving a $250 billion surge in AI infrastructure spending through 2025-26, with Meta planning nearly $100 billion by 2026 and Alphabet raising its 2025 capital expenditure target to $85 billion. Rival Anthropic is simultaneously seeking $3-5 billion in funding at a potential $170 billion valuation, while Elon Musk's xAI recently completed $10 billion in debt and equity raises after rejecting reports of seeking additional funding at a $200 billion valuation. Read Next: AMD Q2 Earnings: Revenue Beat, EPS Miss, 'Robust' AI Product Demand Positions Company For 'Significant Growth' In Back Half Of Year Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo Courtesy: Meir Chaimowitz on Shutterstock.com GOOGAlphabet Inc$194.66-0.56%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum58.90Growth70.48Quality82.59Value51.03Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGLAlphabet Inc$194.04-0.51%METAMeta Platforms Inc$762.76-1.75%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$528.21-1.39%SFTBYSoftBank Group Corp$39.860.53%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI Just Raised $8.3 Billion At This Valuation As ChatGPT Growth Soars - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

ChatGPT parent OpenAI has raised $8.3 billion in new capital at a $300 billion valuation as part of its ongoing $40 billion fundraising effort, according to a person familiar with the deal. The fresh funding comes as the company's business rapidly scales, with annual recurring revenue climbing to $13 billion -- up from $10 billion in June -- and projected to surpass $20 billion by the end of the year, CNBC reported on Friday. The move accelerated OpenAI's path toward a $40 billion fundraising goal for 2025. Also Read: Microsoft-Backed OpenAI To Snap Windsurf For $3 Billion To Strengthen AI Coding Power: Report The number of paid ChatGPT business users grew to five million from three million in just a few months. According to the report, the company closed the oversubscribed round months ahead of schedule, after securing $2.5 billion from venture firms in March in a SoftBank-led effort. Dragoneer Investment Group led OpenAI's latest tranche with a $2.8 billion contribution, joining a group of prominent investors including Blackstone, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity. While Dragoneer topped the list in this round, SoftBank remains the lead backer of the broader $40 billion raise. OpenAI had planned to raise an additional $7.5 billion by year-end, but investor demand surged as the company posted rapid growth. Reportedly, OpenAI reached $12 billion in annualized revenue and surpassed 700 million weekly active ChatGPT users. Strong market interest, combined with momentum from the Trump administration's AI Action Plan and ongoing talks with Microsoft MSFT, is helping OpenAI accelerate its transition toward becoming a fully for-profit enterprise. Meta Platforms META, Microsoft, and Alphabet GOOGL are driving a $250 billion surge in AI infrastructure spending through 2025-26, demonstrating their commitment to powering the next phase of the tech revolution. These companies are sharply increasing capital expenditures on data centers, servers, and networking to scale AI development -- transforming strategic ambition into real-world infrastructure. Rival Anthropic seeks $3 billion to $5 billion in new funding at a potential valuation of $170 billion. Both firms are increasingly turning to Middle Eastern capital, with OpenAI partnering with G42 to build a large data center in Abu Dhabi. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee, in his analyst note, stated that Meta plans to spend nearly $100 billion by 2026, Alphabet raised its 2025 capex target to $85 billion, and Microsoft's September quarter spending exceeded $30 billion, putting it on track to top $100 billion annually. Trending Investment OpportunitiesAdvertisementArrivedBuy shares of homes and vacation rentals for as little as $100. Get StartedWiserAdvisorGet matched with a trusted, local financial advisor for free.Get StartedPoint.comTap into your home's equity to consolidate debt or fund a renovation.Get StartedRobinhoodMove your 401k to Robinhood and get a 3% match on deposits.Get StartedOpenAI Vs. Microsoft According to reports in March, tensions have emerged between OpenAI and Microsoft as both companies push for greater control over their partnership's future. OpenAI is working to scale back Microsoft's ownership stake, reduce its revenue share, and assert more autonomy. In contrast, Microsoft aims to safeguard its investment and maintain priority access to OpenAI's technology. These disagreements have prompted internal discussions at OpenAI about accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive practices. Read Next: Samsung In Talks With OpenAI And Perplexity AI For Galaxy S26 Photo Courtesy Pungu x via Shutterstock GOOGLAlphabet Inc$189.21-1.40%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum54.98Growth68.34Quality81.39Value51.16Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMETAMeta Platforms Inc$750.31-2.99%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$524.78-1.63%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI Targets $500 Billion Valuation in Share Sale | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The company is in early discussions about a possible sale of stock for current and former employees, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (Aug. 6), citing sources briefed on the artificial intelligence (AI) company's investment talks. These sources said OpenAI is eyeing a secondary stock sale in the billions of dollars. If the deal proceeds, Bloomberg notes, it would raise OpenAI's valuation by around two-thirds. The company was last valued at $300 billion, and recently raised $8.3 billion from a group of investors for a second tranche of its $40 billion financing round. PYMNTS has reached out to OpenAI for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. The Bloomberg report points out that the potential share sale is happening in the wake of OpenAI losing several researchers to Meta as the latter company spends heavily to bolster its "superintelligence" AI team. Thus, the secondary sale could provide an incentive for workers to stay with OpenAI, the report added. Meanwhile, OpenAI rival Anthropic was aiming for a $170 billion valuation in a new $5 billion funding round, according to published reports last month. That figure would place the startup among the world's most valuable privately held tech firms, along with OpenAI and SpaceX. This week saw the competing AI firms introduce new models, announcing the GPT (OpenAI) and Claude (Anthropic) iterations within hours of each other Tuesday (Aug. 5). OpenAI unveiled two open-weight reasoning models to counter the rise of Meta and DeepSeek. As PYMNTS reported, these models are only somewhat open, as developers do not get the source code or training data. OpenAI's new gpt-oss models are available in two sizes: 120 billion and 20 billion parameters, or the statistical relationships learned by a model during training. Typically, the higher the parameter count, the more capable the model, the report added. "We believe this is the best and most usable open model in the world," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X. Anthropic on Tuesday debuted Claude Opus 4.1, which the company said is better at agentic tasks, coding and reasoning. Mike Krieger, the company's chief product officer, told Bloomberg this release is different from past model unveilings. "In the past, we were too focused on only shipping the really big upgrades," Krieger said,

OpenAI Raises New Funding to Hit $300 Billion Valuation | PYMNTS.com

The largest investor was Dragoneer Investment Group, which committed $2.8 billion. DealBook called it an "astonishing check" from a single venture fund that "may be one of the largest ever written." Business subscribers to ChatGPT have grown to 5 million, up 67% from 3 million a few months ago, according to DealBook. Business users typically buy the more expensive subscriptions for enterprise use. Overall, ChatGPT is the dominant AI chatbot in use, commanding 80% of all generative AI tool traffic as of May, according to Similarweb. OpenAI Set to Launch GPT-5 in August While Simplifying Offerings Stargate Dials Back Near-Term Goal Amid Disagreement Over Data Center Sites

OpenAI targets valuation of $500bn to offer shares to its employees

The California-based group is growing rapidly and plans to offer shares to its employees in order to retain them. Meta has begun poaching some of OpenAI's most valuable talent. Discussions are just beginning. Earlier this year, OpenAI raised funds, based on a valuation of $300bn. In just a few months, the company is therefore aiming for a 66% increase. All said, it's a logical move, given the meteoric growth of ChatGPT, which has grown from 400 million to 700 million weekly users since February (+75%). Last October, the group was valued at $150bn after a round of funding. However, there is no rush to go public. In May, the CFO warned that it would only happen when the company and the markets are ready. In the meantime, the battle to recruit the best talent is raging in Silicon Valley. OpenAI has already seen some researchers leave for Meta, where Mark Zuckerberg himself is leading the recruitment drive and offering spectacular salaries. His biggest splurge was the acquisition of 49% of Scale AI for $14.8bn, which also brought in its CEO, Alexandr Wang. To retain its talent, OpenAI is opting for a strategy common in unlisted tech companies: offering shares through a private sale. ByteDance, Databricks, and Ramp have already used this process to reward their long-standing employees. In concrete terms, this would involve a secondary sale of shares by current or former employees to new ones. If the IPO is successful, the investment could be worth billions to the beneficiaries.

OpenAI in Talks for Share Sale at $500 Billion Valuation

OpenAI is in early talks about a potential sale of stock for current and former employees at a valuation of about $500 billion, people briefed on the investment discussions said. The company is targeting a secondary stock sale in the billions of dollars, the people said, asking to remain anonymous because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. If the deal goes ahead, it would elevate OpenAI's on-paper price tag by roughly two-thirds. Its previous valuation stood at $300 billion in a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank Group Corp. making it one of the largest privately held companies in the world. Representatives for OpenAI and Thrive declined to comment. The company is also is providing access to its ChatGPT product to US federal agencies at a nominal cost of $1 a year as part of a push to get its AI chatbot more widely adopted. Shirin Ghaffary reports.

OpenAI eyes $500 billion value in potential share sale

STORY: OpenAI is in early-stage talks about a potential share sale that could value it at $500 billion. That's according to a Reuters source. The number would represent a big leap from its current valuation, which is put at $300 billion. It would also underscore the firm's rapid gains in users and sales. Sam Altman's outfit is now on track to hit an annual revenue rate of $20 billion by year end. It claims about 700 million active weekly users for its flagship ChatGPT products - not far off double the number in February. The source says the deal would precede any full IPO. It would reportedly be structured to allow employees to cash out billions of dollars in shares. That could offer financial incentives to staffers amid fierce competition for the top AI talent. Facebook parent Meta, for one, has been spending big to recruit leading players in the sector as it tries to catch rivals. The share sale would come hot on the heels of a $40 billion fundraising round led by Japanese tech investor SoftBank. OpenAI is also working on a restructuring that would move it away from its current capped-profit model and open the way for an IPO.