OpenAI reaches $852B valuation after massive $122B funding

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has closed its latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital at a post-money valuation of $852 billion.

This significant financial milestone is expected to help the company speed up the next phase of AI development.

The funding round was led by major technology firms and investment groups including Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank. Long-term partner Microsoft also continued its participation. SoftBank co-led the round alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, and TPG.

In February, OpenAI had announced $110 billion in new investment, and, by late March, the round was expanded. It has now closed at $122 billion in total, after additional investors and individual investors added more capital.

OpenAI raised over $3 billion from individual investors through banking channels.

The company also announced that it will be included in several exchange-traded funds managed by ARK Invest. These funds are investment products that allow people to buy a collection of shares in various companies through a single purchase.

Rapid expansion

This level of funding shows the rapid growth of OpenAI since its inception. The ChatGPT maker was the fastest technology platform to reach 10 million users and then 100 million users, the company said, adding that it is now on the path to 1 billion weekly active users.

OpenAI said it reached $1 billion in annual revenue within a year of launching ChatGPT and $1 billion per quarter by the end of 2024.

“We are now generating $2B in revenue per month. At this stage, we are growing revenue four times faster than the companies who defined the Internet and mobile eras, including Alphabet and Meta,” said OpenAI.

To support its rapid expansion, the firm has increased its revolving credit facility to approximately $4.7 billion with support from a global group of banks including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. This facility provides the company with extra financial flexibility as it continues to invest in its technology.

The current growth is driven by both individual and business users. ChatGPT now has more than 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers.

“OpenAI is becoming the core infrastructure for AI, making it possible for people around the world and businesses, big and small, to just build things,” the company explained.

The firm believes that the fastest way to widen the benefits of AI is to put “useful intelligence in people's hands early” and let that access compound globally.

Business use now accounts for more than 40% of the company's revenue. This segment is expected to match the consumer side of business by the end of 2026. Much of the interest comes from agentic workflows, which are complex tasks wherein the AI acts as an independent digital assistant to handle multi-step processes.

OpenAI noted that the recently launched GPT-5.4 model has shown record levels of engagement for these types of tasks.

Developing advanced systems

OpenAI is now developing a unified AI superapp which will combine ChatGPT, coding tools, and web browsing into a single experience.

“Users do not want disconnected tools. They want a single system that can understand intent, take action, and operate across applications, data, and workflows. Our superapp will bring together ChatGPT, Codex, browsing, and our broader agentic capabilities into one agent-first experience,” the company said.

OpenAI stated that its coding tool, Codex, already serves over 2 million weekly users and has seen usage grow by more than 70% month-on-month.

To power these advanced systems, the company requires a vast amount of computing power. Its addresses its need by using a variety of computer chips from NVIDIA and AMD, alongside custom-designed silicon created in partnership with Broadcom. OpenAI also uses various cloud services from partners such as Microsoft, Oracle, and Google Cloud.

OpenAI believes massive investments in AI are marking a significant moment in modern history. 

“In past generations, capital markets helped build the systems that defined modern economies, from electricity to highways to the internet. This is that kind of moment again,” the company remarked.

OpenAI added that the capital being deployed today is helping to build the infrastructure layer for intelligence itself.

The Sam Altman-led firm is expected to go public this year with an an initial public offering.