OpenAI mega raise
OpenAI closed a reported $122 billion private funding round at an $852 billion post‑money valuation and is preparing a permanent London office for 2027. The round has prompted scrutiny of OpenAI’s cap table and governance, with analysts pointing to earlier investors and foundation structures as complicating factors. (thedeepdive.ca, tradingview.com, the-founders-corner.com)
OpenAI said on March 31 that it closed a $122 billion private funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation. (openai.com) The company said the round was anchored by Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank, with Microsoft continuing to participate. OpenAI also said SoftBank co-led the deal alongside Andreessen Horowitz, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price. (openai.com) OpenAI said it is now generating $2 billion in revenue per month, after reaching $1 billion in revenue within a year of launching ChatGPT and $1 billion per quarter by the end of 2024. The company said the new capital will fund more computing power, products, and research. (openai.com) The financing lands after OpenAI changed its corporate structure on October 28, 2025. OpenAI said its original nonprofit is now the OpenAI Foundation, and its operating business is a public benefit corporation called OpenAI Group PBC. (openai.com) A public benefit corporation is a for-profit company that is also required to pursue a stated public mission. OpenAI said the foundation still controls the business through special voting rights and can appoint and remove all directors of OpenAI Group. (openai.com) OpenAI said the foundation holds a 26% equity stake in OpenAI Group, worth about $130 billion at the valuation disclosed when the restructuring closed. The company also said the foundation holds a warrant for additional shares if OpenAI reaches a future valuation milestone. (openai.com) That setup has drawn outside scrutiny because OpenAI began as a nonprofit in 2015, added a capped-profit subsidiary in 2019, and only moved to the current structure after talks with the attorneys general of California and Delaware. OpenAI said the recapitalization was completed after nearly a year of discussions with both offices. (openai.com) NBC News reported in October 2025 that the restructuring was designed to make returns easier for investors and corporate partners and to support a future public offering. The same report said the old 2019 model had limited investor returns to 100 times their investment or less. (nbcnews.com) OpenAI said on April 13 that it has signed a lease for its first permanent London office, an 88,500-square-foot site in King’s Cross that is expected to open in 2027 with room for 544 employees. Reuters reported the company currently has about 200 staff in London across research, engineering, customer support, policy, and sales. (theoutpost.ai) The London move extends OpenAI’s expansion in Britain even after Reuters reported last week that the company paused its main United Kingdom data center project because of regulatory conditions and energy costs. The fundraising and the office lease leave OpenAI adding capital, staff capacity, and governance questions at the same time. (theoutpost.ai)
