OpenAI hits $300B valuation after filling $8.3B raise ahead of schedule

OpenAI closed an $8.3B funding round for a $300B valuation, part of its large-scale efforts to draw in capital in 2025. The AI company completed the raise ahead of schedule, potentially boosting its infrastructure expansion. 

OpenAI secured another funding round of $8.3B for a $300B valuation, completing the fundraising months ahead of schedule. The funding round was first announced by the New York Times column DealBook.

In today’s DealBook: @andrewrsorkin scoops OpenAI’s $8.3 billion funding round; breaking down Trump’s tariff barrage; @m_delamerced on Figma’s I.P.O. pop for the record books; Cengage Group’s C.E.O. talks A.I. hacks with @sarahfkessler; and more https://t.co/b2uPzbSiMQ

— DealBook (@dealbook) August 1, 2025

OpenAI previously mentioned plans to raise up to $40B for the year, mostly led by SoftBank, as Cryptopolitan previously reported. The current round was five times oversubscribed, leading to smaller allocations even for the firm’s earliest backers. 

The leading investor was Dragoneer Investment Group, pledging $2.8B, a sizeable inflow from a single VC firm. 

The latest funding round further transforms OpenAI from an idealistic startup into a tech behemoth with growing VC backing. Initially seeded by Elon Musk, the AI firm has switched to closed code and has become highly competitive in securing market share. 

OpenAI round attracts multiple new investors

The growth of AI usage and technological advances also attracted a wave of new investors into the latest OpenAI round. Among the new backers are equity giants Blackstone and TPG, as well as mutual fund manager T. Rowe Price. 

The latest funding round also included multiple VC funds closely involved in crypto investments – Sequoia Capital, Andreessesen Horowitz, as well as Fidelity Management, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Tiger Global and Thrive Capital.

While some of the funds do not routinely invest in AI model makers, OpenAI received special attention due to the widening adoption of ChatGPT and its reputation among end users and businesses. Some of the portfolio companies of Blackstone and TPG are also integrating ChatGPT into health care, financial services, and industrial production. 

OpenAI gets boost from business users

The main driver of OpenAI expansion is the usage of ChatGPT, showing significant growth in multiple sectors. The startup registered over $13B in recurrent revenues, expecting to exceed $20B by the end of 2025. The company broke above $10B recurrent revenues in June, with strong growth momentum. The widely used AI service has over 800M weekly active users, quickly cementing its reputation as an indispensable app. 

ChatGPT also expanded to over 5M business users, up from 3M a few months ago. The AI assistant has turned into the fastest-growing consumer and business app in history, based on the recent expansion. 

OpenAI is now up to $1B in monthly revenues, up from $500M at the start of 2025. At this point, user growth does not translate into immediate profitability. The company is also a fast cash burner, requiring $8B in the year to date. 

One of the avenues of growth is new infrastructure building, which taps additional funding from specialized partners.

Recently, Cryptopolitan reported on OpenAI’s plans to build a new data center in Norway. To boost its revenues, it also offers high-priced subscriptions for specialized LLMs. At this stage, Sam Altman is still seeking ways to turn the AI giant into a for-profit company with sustainable growth, or to seek even larger additional funding.

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