OpenAI eyes $100B in new funding round: report

OpenAI is close to finalizing the first phase of a new funding round expected to raise more than $100 billion, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, in what would mark one of the largest private financings ever and significantly expand the company’s capacity to build artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The ChatGPT maker’s valuation, including the eventual funding, could exceed $850 billion, higher than the roughly $830 billion previously anticipated, the report said.

The company’s pre-money valuation will remain $730 billion. The deal is not yet finalized, and details could still change.

The financing comes as OpenAI ramps up spending on data centers, chips, and computing capacity, part of a broader strategy to compete with other major AI developers.

Strategic investors anchor the first phase

The first portion of the funding round is expected to be led primarily by strategic investors, including Amazon, SoftBank, Nvidia, and Microsoft.

If investments land near the upper ranges under discussion, commitments from these companies could approach $100 billion.

Allocations are expected to be finalized by the end of the month.

SoftBank shares rose as much as 4% in Tokyo trading following news of the discussions.

Previous reports indicated Amazon could invest up to $50 billion, SoftBank up to $30 billion, and Nvidia about $20 billion.

The capital is expected to be delivered in several installments throughout the year.

As part of its partnership with Amazon, OpenAI is expected to expand its use of the company’s chips and cloud infrastructure.

A second phase of the fundraising — involving venture capital firms, sovereign wealth funds, and other financial investors — is expected to close later and could substantially increase total fundraising.

The capital is also intended to address rising operating costs.

OpenAI’s cash burn was estimated to have reached $9 billion in 2025, and the company plans to use proceeds to support agreements with infrastructure partners, including Broadcom, Oracle, and CoreWeave.

Massive infrastructure expansion underway

The fundraising aligns with OpenAI’s broader infrastructure ambitions.

The company has outlined plans to invest up to $500 billion through a project known as Stargate and has since expanded those ambitions to roughly $1.4 trillion as it builds data centers across the United States and internationally.

Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, currently in India for an AI summit, is pursuing large-scale construction projects intended to secure computing capacity in the race against rivals such as Alphabet and Anthropic.

In India, OpenAI has partnered with Tata Group and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to deploy artificial intelligence tools across corporate operations.

A central component is TCS’s development of a 100-megawatt data center that could eventually scale to 1 gigawatt, a project that typically costs between $35 billion and $50 billion.

The companies also plan to develop industry-specific “agentic solutions,” autonomous AI systems capable of performing tasks with limited human intervention.

TCS will expand its OpenAI offerings globally while also providing AI training and resources for Indian youth.

Several thousand Tata Group employees will receive access to the enterprise version of ChatGPT.