The AI startup OpenAI is aiming to raise $40 billion in a funding round, which would put its valuation at $340 billion.
According to two people involved with the negotiations who asked not to be named, because the talks are still ongoing, Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank would lead the round with a contribution of $15 billion to $25 billion. SoftBank would become OpenAI’s largest investor, surpassing even Microsoft.
According to the sources, a portion of the funds might go towards OpenAI’s commitment to Stargate, a SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle joint venture that President Donald Trump unveiled last week. According to the idea, billions of dollars would be spent on American AI infrastructure.
Private investors last valued OpenAI at $157 billion. The business started the generative AI boom with the release of its ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. In October, OpenAI concluded its most recent $6.6 billion funding, positioning itself to take on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Anthropic, and Elon Musk’s xAI.
In the meantime, OpenAI faces new competition from the Chinese startup lab DeepSeek, which is booming in the United States.
This week, DeepSeek’s software shot to the top of the Apple App Store rankings, and news that its potent model was trained for a fraction of the price of its American rivals rocked the U.S. markets.
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