In the latest turn of events, Bloomberg mentioned that on April 1, the platform hit a record 1 million users in just an hour, driven by its Ghibli-style image-generation feature. Following this surge in user engagement, the AI tech company announced that it has secured $40 billion in funding—led by SoftBank Group—boosting its valuation to $300 billion.
Sam Altman mentioned, “Hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT each week. This investment helps us push the frontier and make AI more useful. ”
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According to PitchBook, this is the largest financing round in history, nearly doubling OpenAI’s valuation from $157 billion in its October 2024 fundraise to $300 billion this year.
Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank is leading the funding round with an initial investment of $7.5 billion, while an investor syndicate is contributing an additional $2.5 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
According to the unidentified source, other investors participating in the funding group include Microsoft Corporation, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital Management, and Thrive Capital.
Notably, a second tranche of $30 billion is expected to be invested in OpenAI by the end of 2025, with SoftBank contributing $22.5 billion and the syndicate providing $7.5 billion, the source added.
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