The AI startup OpenAI has closed a new funding round, raising $40 billion at a valuation of $300 billion. The company has become one of the largest private firms globally.
It shares the top three spots in terms of valuation with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and China’s ByteDance.
“This will allow us to further push the boundaries of AI research, scale our computing infrastructure, and provide increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people using ChatGPT every week,” noted Sam Altman’s firm.
In March, the number of weekly users of the chatbot surpassed 400 million — the application took less than six months to double this figure.
Altman highlighted that the launch of ChatGPT 26 months ago was one of the most viral events — the product attracted 1 million users in just five days. On March 31, the same number of people joined in an hour.
the chatgpt launch 26 months ago was one of the craziest viral moments i’d ever seen, and we added one million users in five days.
we added one million users in the last hour.
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 31, 2025
OpenAI announced a partnership with SoftBank Group, though the Japanese group’s investment amount was not disclosed. According to CNBC, it invested $30 billion. A syndicate of investors, including Microsoft, joined the round.
“Their support will allow us to continue creating AI systems that accelerate scientific discoveries, make education more personalized, unlock human creativity, and pave the way to AGI for the benefit of all humanity,” the company added.
According to CNBC, about $18 billion will be allocated to fund the Stargate project.
Initial investments will amount to $10 billion, with the remaining $30 billion to be allocated by the end of the year. The publication added that the round includes a stipulation — the total investment amount may be reduced to $20 billion if OpenAI does not become commercial by December 31, 2025.
Back in November, OpenAI discussed with the California Attorney General’s office the transformation of its corporate structure into a commercial business. Elon Musk is attempting to block the process through the courts.