OpenAI closes $122B funding round at $852B valuation, setting stage for IPO
The additional $12 billion raised since February, including $3 billion from individual investors through banking channels for the first time, reads less like venture financing and more like an IPO rehearsal.
OpenAI announced on March 31 that it has officially closed its latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital, up from the $110 billion it disclosed when the round launched in February, CNBC reported. The company's post-money valuation stands at $852 billion, cementing what is widely regarded as the largest private fundraise in the history of technology and likely in the history of capital markets.
The round was co-led by SoftBank, which committed $30 billion alongside Amazon's $50 billion and Nvidia's $30 billion. Microsoft, OpenAI's longtime cloud partner, also participated, though the company did not specify the size of Microsoft's contribution.
The additional $12 billion raised since February came from a broader investor group, including venture capital firms and, for the first time, individual investors who contributed $3 billion through banking channels — a structure that strongly resembles an IPO rehearsal.
The New York Times reported that OpenAI aims to pursue a public offering by the end of 2026 but must first stabilize its finances to enhance its appeal to Wall Street investors. The company generated approximately $13 billion in revenue in the prior year but anticipates spending around $100 billion over the next four years as it expands its data center infrastructure.
CEO Sam Altman faces the challenge of justifying the company's substantial valuation as scrutiny intensifies ahead of any eventual listing.
As part of the round's strategic dimension, OpenAI is expanding its AWS partnership by an additional $100 billion in compute services, on top of a previously committed $38 billion. The funding structure — anchored by three of the largest technology companies in the world — reflects the degree to which OpenAI has become a shared infrastructure bet for the broader AI industry.
Read the original reporting at CNBC.
