OpenAI valuation soars to $500 bn in private share sale: reports

AFP | Paris

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

The valuation of ChatGPT developer OpenAI soared to a chart-topping $500 billion in a deal for employees to sell a limited number of shares, financial media reported yesterday.

If confirmed, OpenAI workers’ sale of a reported $6.6 billion in shares to investors would make the company the world’s most valuable startup, overtaking Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX -- valued at around $400 billion, according to Bloomberg.

A gaggle of investors snapping up the shares included Japanese investment giant SoftBank, the Financial Times and Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the transaction.

OpenAI’s French spokespeople declined to comment on the reports when contacted by AFP, while its US press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Softbank declined to comment on the reports.

Known for making highstakes bets on tech, SoftBank had already committed to ploughing $40 billion into OpenAI by the end of 2025 if the startup met certain conditions.

That March deal valued the US company at $300 billion, less than three years after its flagship chatbot ChatGPT wowed the public with its ability to generate convincing text responses.

Other investors cited by the FT and Bloomberg yesterday included venture capital firms Thrive Capital and Dragoneer and Abu Dhabi’s AI investment company MGX.

In the first six months of 2025, OpenAI pulled in around $4.3 billion in revenue, specialist outlet The Information reported this week.

But like other generative AI developers, OpenAI has spending plans running into the hundreds of billions over the coming years to build the computing infrastructure needed to develop and operate its services.

Some industry observers raised concern last week at its receipt of an investment pledge worth up to $100 billion from chip giant Nvidia.