OpenAI has closed its latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital at a post money valuation of $852 billion.
This round was anchored by strategic partners Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank, with continued participation from Microsoft. SoftBank co-led the round alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX and TPG. The funding included over $3 billion from individual investors. Wall Street Journal has called it, “The largest funding round in Silicon Valley history”
The funding will be used to build a ‘unified AI superapp’ that can understand intent, take action and operate across applications, data and workflows. This superapp will bring together ChatGPT, Codex, browsing and broader agentic capabilities into one agent-first experience.
OpenAI said in a blog post, “Moments like this do not come often. 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 capital being deployed today is helping build the infrastructure layer for intelligence itself. Over time, that value will flow back into the economy, to companies, to communities, and increasingly to individuals.”
Dramatic growth
OpenAI reports that it was the fastest technology platform to reach 10 million and 100 million users, and expects to be the fastest to 1 billion weekly active users soon. ChatGPT already has more than 900 million weekly active users, and over 50 million subscribers.
They claim that ChatGPT has six times the monthly web visits and mobile sessions than the next largest AI app, while total AI time spent is four times the next largest AI app or all others combined. Search usage has nearly tripled in a year.
The company reached $1B in revenue within a year of launching ChatGPT, going on to generate $1B per quarter by the end of 2024 and $2B monthly revenue now. OpenAI said, “We are growing revenue four times faster than the companies who defined the Internet and mobile eras, including Alphabet and Meta.”
Steve is an award-winning editor and copywriter with more than 20 years’ experience specialising in consumer technology and video games. With a career spanning from the first PlayStation to the latest in VR, he's proud to be a lifelong gamer.
