OpenAI now valued at $500 billion, potentially the world's most valuable startup

OpenAI now valued at $500 billion, potentially the world's most valuable startup

Artificial Intelligence company OpenAI has officially claimed the title of the world’s most valuable startup after closing a secondary share sale that valued the company at a staggering $500 billion, according to Bloomberg . This recent surge in valuation, representing a significant increase from its previous valuation of $300 billion, underscores OpenAI’s rapid gains in both users and revenue.

The deal, which allowed current and former employees to sell $6.6 billion worth of shares, pushes OpenAI ahead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, now valued at $400 billion. The sale was part of a broader authorization for OpenAI to sell $10 billion-plus worth of stock on the secondary market. The consortium of investors included Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price .

OpenAI’s meteoric rise is led by CEO Sam Altman and is a testament to the frenzied investment wave sweeping through artificial intelligence. The company is currently negotiating with Microsoft to transition into a for-profit structure. Financial disclosures reveal that OpenAI generated $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, a figure already 16% higher than its total revenue for all of 2024 . The company has set ambitious targets of $13 billion in annual revenue and $8.5 billion in cash burn for the year, much of which is being driven by heavy spending on R&D and the infrastructure required to run ChatGPT .

The valuation surge comes at a time when giant chipmaker Nvidia pledged up to $100 billion in investment, tied to deploying 10 gigawatts of computing power on its chips, an energy capacity greater than the annual consumption of some small countries . This move has intensified the global AI talent war, with tech giants like Meta scrambling to hire top executives and pour billions into competing AI initiatives.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, OpenAI’s annual recurring revenue has already reached $12 billion, with forecasts suggesting it could hit $20 billion by the end of 2025. As of September 2025, ChatGPT has approximately 800 million weekly active users, according to statements from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and corroborated by multiple industry analyses . This marks a rapid doubling from 400 million weekly active users reported in February 2025.

For builders, operators, and policymakers alike, OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation signals the dawn of a new era where AI is no longer a distant promise but a dominant economic force shaping industries, societies, and the future of work. This valuation coincides with the AI startup negotiating a shift to a more traditional for-profit structure with Microsoft, its key backer .