OpenAI, not yet public, raises $3B from retail investors in monster $122B fund raise

OpenAI has secured a monumental $122 billion in new funding at a staggering $852 billion valuation, marking its largest capital raise to date. The round was co-led by SoftBank and Andreessen Horowitz, with significant participation from tech giants Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft, alongside firms like TPG and T. Rowe Price. Notably, about $3 billion came from individual retail investors through bank channels, broadening the shareholder base ahead of an expected IPO. The company also expanded its revolving credit facility to $4.7 billion, though it remains undrawn, indicating strategic financial flexibility rather than immediate liquidity needs.

In a release that read more like an S-1 filing than a typical blog post, OpenAI revealed explosive growth metrics: $2 billion in monthly revenue, over 900 million weekly active users, and more than 50 million subscribers. The company claimed its revenue is growing four times faster than internet-era giants like Alphabet and Meta. A new ads pilot is already generating over $100 million in annual recurring revenue, while its business segment now accounts for 40% of revenue, driven by adoption of its newest model, GPT-5.4, in agentic workflows. OpenAI positioned itself as an 'AI superapp,' aiming to own the primary interface for AI interaction.