OpenAI announces financing of up to $40 billion
SoftBank Group backed a conditional financing plan to expand OpenAI’s research, computing capacity and products.
OpenAI announced financing of up to $40 billion at a $300 billion post-money valuation on March 31, 2025. SoftBank Group entered a definitive agreement for the investment, with plans to bring other investors into the round.
The agreement envisaged an initial $10 billion investment in April 2025 and a second closing of up to $30 billion in December. The larger second payment depended on OpenAI completing a recapitalization; otherwise, that closing would fall to $10 billion. SoftBank expected to syndicate $10 billion of the overall commitment to co-investors.
OpenAI said the funding would support AI research, computing infrastructure and product development. At the announcement, it reported that ChatGPT was used by 500 million people each week.
Use of funds
AI research
Compute infrastructure
ChatGPT product development