OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

OpenAI announced the close of a monumental $122 billion funding round, cementing a post-money valuation of $852 billion. This figure surpasses the $110 billion in commitments the company announced in February. The round was co-led by SoftBank alongside Andreessen Horowitz and D. E. Shaw Ventures, with significant anchor investments from Amazon ($50B), Nvidia ($30B), and SoftBank ($30B). Notably, OpenAI extended participation to individual investors through bank channels for the first time, raising $3 billion from this new pool. Microsoft, a longtime partner with over $13 billion invested historically, also participated, though its latest contribution was not disclosed.

This capital infusion arrives as OpenAI reports generating $2 billion in monthly revenue, following $13.1 billion in revenue last year, though the company acknowledges it is still burning cash and is not yet profitable. CEO Sam Altman now faces pressure to justify the massive valuation, especially with a potential IPO on the horizon. The company has been scaling back some spending, including shuttering its short-form video app Sora, to rein in costs. OpenAI stated the funding provides "the resources to continue to lead at the scale this moment demands," aiming to build the infrastructure layer for artificial intelligence. The move signals a pivotal moment for the AI industry, with value expected to flow back into the broader economy.