OpenAI has raised $40 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank Group, elevating the company’s valuation to $300 billion. This marks the largest capital-raising event for a startup to date.
SoftBank contributed 75% of the funding, with the remainder coming from investors including Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital, and Thrive Capital. The investment will support OpenAI’s efforts to advance artificial intelligence research, expand computational infrastructure, and enhance tools like ChatGPT, which currently serves 500 million weekly users.
This funding follows a $6.6 billion round in October that valued OpenAI at $157 billion. The company plans to transition to a for-profit model by the end of the year to secure the full investment. Additionally, OpenAI is collaborating with SoftBank and Oracle on the $500 billion Stargate project, aiming to establish data centers for AI workloads in the U.S.
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, announced plans to release an open-weights AI model soon, shifting from the traditional subscription-based approach and potentially exploring new monetization methods. This move responds to competition from rivals like China’s DeepSeek and Meta’s Llama in the open-source AI space.
