OpenAI Secures Record $40 Billion Funding Round Led by SoftBank

TLDR

• OpenAI closed a record-breaking $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank, valuing the company at $300 billion
• ChatGPT now has 500 million weekly users, with recent spikes of 1 million new users in a single hour
• The company plans to release its first “open-weight” language model with reasoning capabilities in the coming months
• OpenAI expects revenue to triple to $12.7 billion this year, but won’t be cash flow positive until 2029
• The funding is connected to the $500 billion Stargate Project with SoftBank, Oracle, and others to build AI data centers

OpenAI has secured $40 billion in new funding, marking the largest private tech investment in history. The funding round was announced on Monday and values the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank led the investment with a $30 billion commitment. Microsoft and other investors including Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive contributed the remaining $10 billion.

The deal structure includes an initial $10 billion upfront payment. The remaining $30 billion is expected to arrive by the end of 2025.

The funding comes with a notable condition. SoftBank’s investment could be reduced to as low as $20 billion if OpenAI fails to restructure into a for-profit entity by December 31.

OpenAI’s current structure includes a non-profit that controls a capped-profit limited partnership created in 2019. This unusual arrangement has been challenged in court by Elon Musk, one of OpenAI’s co-founders.

The valuation places OpenAI just behind Musk’s SpaceX, which is valued at $350 billion. It ties Chinese company ByteDance, owner of TikTok, among the world’s most valuable private companies.

OpenAI’s Roadmap: Putting $40 Billion to Work

OpenAI plans to use the fresh capital to advance AI research and expand its computing infrastructure. About $18 billion will likely go toward OpenAI’s commitment to the Stargate Project.

The Stargate Project is a $500 billion initiative announced in January. It aims to build AI data centers across the United States over the next four years in partnership with Oracle and SoftBank.

OpenAI revealed that ChatGPT now serves 500 million people every week. This represents a big jump from the 400 million users reported last month.

CEO Sam Altman shared on X (formerly Twitter) that ChatGPT added two million users over five days. He later noted that the platform gained one million users in a single hour.

it's super fun seeing people love images in chatgpt.

but our GPUs are melting.

we are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. hopefully won't be long!

chatgpt free tier will get 3 generations per day soon.

— Sam Altman (@sama) March 27, 2025

The surge in usage followed a major upgrade to ChatGPT’s image generation features. The new capability went viral for its ability to create Studio Ghibli-inspired AI art.

The tool proved so popular that Altman asked users to slow down. He said the high usage was “melting OpenAI’s GPUs” and announced temporary rate limits.

In addition to the funding news, Altman announced plans to release a new “open-weight” language model. This will be OpenAI’s first open model since GPT-2, featuring reasoning capabilities.

The investment comes amid changes in OpenAI’s leadership structure. Altman is shifting focus away from day-to-day operations to concentrate more on research and product development.

Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap will take on an expanded role. He will oversee business operations while Altman focuses on advancing the company’s AI capabilities.

Despite massive growth, OpenAI continues to burn through cash. The company expects revenue to triple to $12.7 billion this year, up from $3.7 billion in annualized recurring revenue last year.

However, projections suggest OpenAI won’t become cash flow positive until 2029. By then, the company forecasts annual revenue of $125 billion.

The funding announcement emphasized OpenAI’s goal of building “AGI that benefits all of humanity.” AGI refers to artificial general intelligence, systems that can perform any intellectual task that humans can do.

Mark Klein, CEO of SuRo Capital and an investor in OpenAI, has suggested the company may eventually go public. He told investors that OpenAI is among the next wave of anticipated IPOs in his portfolio.

The deal dwarfs previous private funding records. Ant Group’s $14 billion raise in 2018 previously held the title for largest private tech funding round.

OpenAI’s investment comes shortly after AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave made its public debut. However, CoreWeave has faced challenges, with its stock falling more than 7% on Monday after an unchanged first day of trading.

The funding reflects growing competition in the generative AI market. Companies from Google and Amazon to smaller players like Anthropic and Perplexity are racing to develop new products, especially AI agents.