OpenAI has reached a market valuation of $500 billion, according to Bloomberg. This comes after the AI giant struck a deal in which current and former employees sold about $6.6 billion worth of stock to investors.
This secondary sale significantly boosted the firm’s capitalization to more than the previous $300 billion, thus OpenAI managed to surpass Elon Musk’s SpaceX in terms of value.
Among the investors in the deal were Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group Corp, Dragoneer Investment Group, MGX and other market players. As a result, OpenAI has consolidated the status of the largest private company in the world, which reflects the growing interest in the AI-industry, according to the authors of the material.
Analysts noted that the market valuation of $500 billion emphasizes the excitement around artificial intelligence technologies that can transform the global economy. OpenAI is playing a key role in shaping the new infrastructure along with Nvidia, Oracle and other corporations, they said.
While the company has yet to turn a profit, it remains a driver of large-scale investment in data centers and AI services.
The media outlet emphasized that reaching the new milestone coincides with discussions about OpenAI’s possible transformation into a public purpose corporation. Negotiations with Microsoft envision a structure in which a non-profit organization originally founded to develop AI “for the benefit of humanity” would retain control.
Meanwhile, the AI giant is facing increasing competition. For example, Meta is actively poaching specialists from leading labs, offering them record compensation packages. At the same time, OpenAI is accelerating the launch of new products, including open reasoning models and the recently introduced GPT-5.
The deal also fulfills the goal of retaining talent within the company, according to analysts. Selling shares on the secondary market provides employees with liquidity and reduces the risk of specialists leaving for competitors.
According to sources, the authorized limit of $10 billion has not been fully utilized, which supposedly indicates the staff’s confidence in OpenAI’s long-term outlook.
The new valuation thus maintains OpenAI’s position at the center of the global race for AI leadership, according to media reports. However, against the background of pressure from Google, Meta, Anthropic and Chinese developers, the company will have to not only hold the leadership, but also meet the expectations of investors, summarized in Bloomberg.