OpenAI has secured a historic $40 billion investment round led by SoftBank, elevating its valuation to an astounding $300 billion. According to CNBC, this marks the largest private tech funding round in history.
As reported by Bloomberg, the AI powerhouse is set to receive an initial $10 billion, with SoftBank contributing $7.5 billion and an additional $2.5 billion coming from an investor syndicate. The remaining $30 billion is expected by the end of the year, contingent on OpenAI officially transitioning into a for-profit entity. Failure to do so could result in a 25% reduction in the deal’s value.
This substantial funding follows OpenAI’s recent announcement of Stargate, a $500 billion initiative backed by SoftBank, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund to develop cutting-edge AI data centers over the next four years. The company has been making rapid strides, with CEO Sam Altman revealing that OpenAI attracted 1 million users in just one hour, thanks to the viral success of a new ChatGPT feature that generates Studio Ghibli-inspired AI art. Additionally, Altman disclosed plans to launch a powerful open-weight language model with advanced reasoning capabilities in the coming months. OpenAI also claims that ChatGPT now serves 500 million users weekly.
Despite its meteoric rise, OpenAI continues to operate at a high burn rate. Bloomberg reports that the company expects to generate $12.7 billion in revenue this year, a significant leap from last year’s $3.7 billion in annualized recurring revenue. However, OpenAI does not anticipate achieving positive cash flow until 2029, with projections indicating a staggering $125 billion in revenue by then.
The latest funding round underscores OpenAI’s mission to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of all humanity. Altman has consistently emphasized the immense resources required to realize this vision—ranging from computational power to global infrastructure and, crucially, vast financial backing. With this funding milestone, OpenAI moves closer to its ambitious goal.
