OpenAI Raises Historic $110 Billion
OpenAI has secured $110 billion in one of history's largest private funding rounds, led by Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank. The deal, which values the company at $730B, includes a strategic partnership making AWS the exclusive third-party cloud distributor for its top-tier models. Within hours, OpenAI also landed a contract with the US Department of Defense.
This record-shattering funding round more than doubles OpenAI's previous historic $40 billion raise in 2025. The new capital catapults the company's valuation from $500 billion in October 2025 to a pre-money valuation of $730 billion. The post-money valuation now stands at an estimated $840 billion, making OpenAI the world's most valuable private company. Amazon's $50 billion investment is structured with an initial $15 billion, followed by $35 billion contingent on certain conditions, which may include a future IPO. This deal significantly expands a previous multi-year agreement, committing OpenAI to use Amazon's custom Trainium AI chips and making AWS the exclusive third-party cloud provider for OpenAI's new "Frontier" enterprise platform. Nvidia and SoftBank are each contributing $30 billion. For Nvidia, the investment is tied to OpenAI's commitment to use its next-generation Vera Rubin GPU architecture. For SoftBank, this brings its total investment in OpenAI to $64.6 billion, representing an approximate 13% ownership stake. The deal with the Pentagon will see OpenAI's models deployed on classified military networks. This partnership falls under the company's "OpenAI for Government" initiative, which already includes a $200 million contract to prototype AI solutions for administrative tasks, healthcare, and cyber defense. This influx of capital is aimed directly at funding the enormous computational and research and development costs required to achieve OpenAI's stated mission: ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI), defined as AI systems smarter than humans, benefits all of humanity. The Department of Defense agreement came just hours after the White House ordered federal agencies to cease using technology from rival AI firm Anthropic, labeling it a "Supply-Chain Risk to National Security" after negotiations over the use of its AI in military applications broke down. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that the Pentagon showed "a deep respect for safety" and agreed to prohibitions on using the AI for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapon systems. With over 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers for its products like ChatGPT, this funding is intended to scale infrastructure to meet surging global demand and transition frontier AI from a research concept into a daily utility.
