OpenAI has reportedly reached a valuation of $500 billion, overtaking Elon Musk‘s rocket company SpaceX to become the world’s largest startup.
Current and former employees of the company behind ChatGPT sold about $6.6 billion worth of shares to investors, including Softbank Group, Thrive Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price, according to media reports on Thursday.
The company had authorized sales of $10-billion-plus worth of stock on the secondary market, Reuters reported.
The deal represents a step-up from its current valuation of $300 billion, hit during a Softbank-led financing round earlier this year, and zooms past Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX’s valuation of $400 billion, underscoring OpenAI’s explosive growth.
Pivotal Time As AI Investments Rise
OpenAI generated around $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, about 16% more than it generated all of last year, The Information reported earlier this week. The company is also on track to meet its full-year revenue target of $13 billion and a cash-burn target of $8.5 billion, the report added.
The $500 billion valuation milestone comes at a pivotal time for the Sam Altman-led company, which is in negotiations with Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) to convert into a more traditional for-profit company. OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit dedicated to advancing digital intelligence.
Tech giants are pouring billions into AI infrastructure, betting on its potential to transform industries and economies. OpenAI has been inking deals with the likes of Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL), with chip designer Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) pledging investments of up to $100 billion in the company.
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