- OpenAI closes a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation, the largest private raise in history.
- SoftBank co-led alongside Andreessen Horowitz, D.E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and T. Rowe Price, with Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft participating.
- The company generates $2 billion in monthly revenue and has 900 million weekly active users across ChatGPT.
- CEO Sam Altman is preparing an IPO expected later this year as OpenAI builds what it calls an “AI superapp.”
$122 Billion to Fund the Road to IPO
OpenAI has closed the largest private funding round ever at $122 billion, up from the $110 billion initially announced in February. The round values the company at $852 billion post-money. SoftBank co-led alongside Andreessen Horowitz, D.E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and T. Rowe Price. Amazon committed up to $50 billion, Nvidia invested $30 billion, and SoftBank put in $30 billion. Microsoft also participated, though OpenAI did not disclose the size of its investment.
For the first time, OpenAI opened participation to individual investors through bank channels, raising $3 billion from retail. The company will also be included in several ETFs managed by ARK Invest, broadening its shareholder base ahead of a reportedly upcoming IPO. OpenAI also expanded its revolving credit facility to $4.7 billion, backed by JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and others. The facility remains undrawn, signaling the move is about financial flexibility rather than near-term liquidity.
$2 Billion a Month and a Superapp Strategy
OpenAI now generates $2 billion in monthly revenue, up from $13.1 billion for all of 2025. ChatGPT has surpassed 900 million weekly active users and 50 million subscribers. Enterprise revenue accounts for 40% of total sales, up from 30% last year, and is on track to reach parity with consumer revenue by the end of 2026. An advertising pilot launched six weeks ago is already generating more than $100 million in annualized revenue.
The pressure to justify the valuation is mounting. OpenAI shut down Sora, its video-generation platform, and scrapped plans for erotic chatbots and an in-ChatGPT shopping feature. CEO Sam Altman announced a major reorganization on March 24 to focus spending on enterprise AI and core infrastructure. The company is building a unified “AI superapp” merging ChatGPT, Codex, web browsing, and agentic capabilities into a single product. Codex alone now has over 2 million weekly users, up 5x in a quarter. OpenAI’s press release read less like a blog post and more like a draft S-1, heavy on flywheel metaphors and TAM-justifying language. The message is clear: this round is as much about anchoring IPO expectations as it is about the capital itself.
OpenAI | Sam Altman on X | TechCrunch | CNBC
