OpenAI Secures $40 Billion in Funding, Valuing Company at $300 Billion
OpenAI has secured a record-breaking $40 billion in funding, led by SoftBank, valuing the company at $300 billion. SoftBank is contributing 75% of the investment, with the remaining funds coming from Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital, and Thrive Capital. The investment will be distributed in two phases—an initial $10 billion followed by $30 billion by the end of 2025. OpenAI plans to use the capital to enhance AI research, expand computational resources, and further develop ChatGPT, which now has 500 million weekly users.
A major condition of the deal requires OpenAI to transition into a for-profit entity by the end of the year. If the restructuring doesn’t happen, SoftBank’s contribution could be reduced to $20 billion. The company’s current hybrid structure, a mix of nonprofit control and capped-profit investments, has been under scrutiny, with legal challenges from Elon Musk and regulatory concerns. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has emphasized that the funding will help push AI innovation forward, while SoftBank's Masayoshi Son called AI a “defining force shaping humanity’s future.”
Beyond expanding its AI capabilities, OpenAI is partnering with SoftBank and Oracle on a $500 billion initiative called the Stargate project, which aims to build a network of AI-focused data centers in the U.S. The company is also planning to launch an open-weights AI model in response to competition from China’s DeepSeek and Meta’s Llama. As AI development accelerates, OpenAI’s latest funding round places it among the most valuable private companies in the world, alongside SpaceX and ByteDance.
