OpenAI in Talks for Huge Investment Round Valuing It Up to $300 Billion
SoftBank would lead $40 billion round for ChatGPT maker, some of which would go to Stargate AI infrastructure venture
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OpenAI is in early talks to raise up to $40 billion in a funding round that would value the ChatGPT maker as high as $300 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
SoftBank would lead the round and is in discussions to invest between $15 billion and $25 billion. The remaining amount would come from other investors.
The two companies were recently in talks to value OpenAI as high as $340 billion, one of the people familiar with the matter said. After The Wall Street Journal published that figure in an earlier version of this story, the person said newer negotiations lowered the proposed valuation to as much as $300 billion.
The Japanese company is helping assemble investors for the rest of the round, one of the people said. The discussions are still in flux and could fall apart, the person said.
The $300 billion valuation would include the cash OpenAI raises in the round.
OpenAI was last valued at $157 billion in October, when it raised $6.6 billion . Roughly doubling its value in just a few months would be extraordinary even by the standards of Silicon Valley’s current AI boom.
The funding will be used in part to help OpenAI fulfill its roughly $18 billion commitment to Stargate , a joint venture with SoftBank and others to finance the construction of new data centers in the U.S. powering OpenAI’s technology. The startup also expects to use the cash to fund its money-losing business operations.
At $300 billion, OpenAI would be the second-most valuable startup in the world, behind only Elon Musk’s SpaceX, according to the data provider CB Insights. A funding round of this size would be the largest in Silicon Valley history, according to PitchBook, and blow past OpenAI’s previous fundraising record achieved in 2023, when it raised $10 billion from Microsoft .
OpenAI is attempting to raise the cash after AI models released by the Chinese firm DeepSeek led to a selloff in big tech stocks , including Nvidia , earlier this week. DeepSeek’s success with cheaply made and free-to-use AI technology has led many investors and executives to question the big-spending strategies of OpenAI and other U.S. developers.
OpenAI expected to lose around $5 billion last year on revenue of $3.7 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported in October . At the time, it projected its revenue would grow to $11.6 billion this year.
The funding talks mark a quickly deepening relationship between OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son , who appears to have picked the ChatGPT maker as his vehicle to bet big on the AI industry.
SoftBank has separately committed to contribute some $18 billion to Stargate, which Son announced at the White House earlier this month, alongside Altman and Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison . The project’s partners have committed to invest $100 billion in U.S. data center projects for OpenAI and plan to invest up to $500 billion over four years.
In October, SoftBank contributed $500 million to a $6.6 billion funding round for OpenAI. The following month, it launched a $1.5 billion tender offer to purchase existing shares from employees.
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With US$40 million already committed, the Global Talent Fund is attracting investor attention with a strategy focused on building globally scalable consumer brands alongside high-profile talent.
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A new investment fund targeting celebrity-founded consumer brands has secured US$40 million in commitments and is rapidly approaching its US$50 million fundraising target, signalling growing investor appetite for alternative opportunities beyond traditional asset classes.
The Global Talent Fund, which has a maximum raise of US$100 million, focuses on building and investing in consumer businesses alongside celebrities, athletes, and influential personalities who play an active role as co-founders rather than simply endorsing products.
The strategy is based on the belief that changes in consumer behaviour, particularly the rise of social media and digital engagement, have fundamentally altered how brands are built and scaled.
GTF founding partner Jeremy Hunt, who is helping lead the fund’s strategy, said consumers increasingly feel connected to personalities they follow online and are more willing to support products developed by those individuals.
“Consumers are searching for content to engage with, and when a celebrity they like or follow takes them on the journey of creating a product or brand, they genuinely feel part of that process,” he said.
The fund is targeting high-growth consumer sectors including wellness, hydration, beauty and recovery, areas Hunt believes continue to benefit from strong global demand and ongoing innovation.
Rather than backing celebrity endorsement deals, the fund is seeking businesses where talent is deeply involved in product development, brand creation and long-term growth.
According to Hunt, authenticity remains one of the biggest differentiators between successful celebrity-backed brands and those that fail.
“The consumer can see clearly if someone is simply being paid to promote a product,” he said. “The winners are typically the brands where the celebrity has genuinely helped build the business from the ground up.”
The model has attracted support from several prominent Australian investors and business families, reflecting broader interest in alternative investments with global growth potential.
Hunt said consumer brands offered a level of tangibility that many investors found appealing.
“Consumer brands are what we touch, feel, smell and taste every day,” he said. “Our investors understand the growth potential in the model, but they also want to be part of the journey.”
The fund’s rapid progress towards its fundraising target comes amid growing recognition that celebrity influence, when combined with strong commercial execution and scalable business models, can create significant enterprise value.
With several high-profile celebrity-founded businesses generating billion-dollar exits in recent years, supporters of the strategy believe the opportunity remains in its early stages.
For more information, contact marc@kanerbridge.com.au
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