TLDR
- OpenAI reached a $500 billion valuation through a $6.6 billion employee stock sale
- Major investors include SoftBank, Thrive Capital, Dragoneer, MGX, and T. Rowe Price
- The AI company’s value increased from $300 billion earlier in 2025
- OpenAI now surpasses SpaceX as the world’s most valuable startup
- The company serves 700 million users and expects $13 billion in 2025 revenue
OpenAI achieved a $500 billion valuation after completing an employee stock sale worth $6.6 billion. The transaction makes the ChatGPT creator the world’s most valuable startup.
Current and former OpenAI employees sold shares to investors including SoftBank Group Corp., Thrive Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price. The deal represents a jump from the company’s $300 billion valuation during a SoftBank-led funding round earlier this year.
The new valuation places OpenAI ahead of SpaceX. Elon Musk’s rocket company was valued at $400 billion in July 2025.
ChatGPT Growth and Revenue
OpenAI currently serves 700 million users across the globe. The artificial intelligence company projects revenue of $13 billion for 2025.
The secondary stock sale gives employees liquidity while helping OpenAI retain talent. Tech companies have been aggressively recruiting AI researchers with compensation packages reaching nine figures.
Meta Platforms has targeted OpenAI researchers for its superintelligence team. The stock sale allows OpenAI employees to benefit from company growth without accepting outside offers.
OpenAI made more than $10 billion worth of stock available for sale. However, employees sold only $6.6 billion worth of shares, suggesting confidence in the company’s long-term prospects.
AI Competition and Product Launches
OpenAI faces growing competition from Google, Anthropic, and other AI companies. The company recently launched several new products to maintain its market position.
In August, OpenAI released GPT-5, its most advanced language model. The company also introduced two open AI models that can perform human-like reasoning.
These product releases followed attention on China’s DeepSeek and its open-source AI software. OpenAI has expanded globally with new offices in India and South Korea.
Last week, OpenAI and Nvidia announced a partnership worth $100 billion. Nvidia will invest in OpenAI while providing computing infrastructure for joint AI development.
The company is negotiating with Microsoft to transition from its nonprofit structure to a for-profit corporation. OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015.
Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI and left its board in 2018, has filed lawsuits opposing this restructuring. The planned changes would place a public benefit corporation under the control of the existing nonprofit entity.
OpenAI continues investing in data center infrastructure through partnerships with Oracle and SK Hynix. Despite rapid growth and its massive valuation, the company has not yet achieved profitability.
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