OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has become the most valuable privately held company in the world. Founded in San Francisco in 2015 by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and others, OpenAI has evolved from its nonprofit beginnings into one of the most influential entities in artificial intelligence.
According to recent estimates, between 700 and 800 million people use ChatGPT weekly for a wide range of purposes, from improving productivity at work to seeking personal guidance, although the company notes that the tool is not intended to replace medical or mental health professionals.
In recent weeks, OpenAI introduced GPT-5, described as its most advanced and capable model to date. The release faced criticism for not meeting user expectations, prompting the company to reintroduce GPT-4.5 and acknowledge the need for improvements. OpenAI also presented Sora 2, the updated version of its video-generation system, designed to address problems found in the first iteration and expand creative capabilities.
The company’s new valuation follows the sale of 6.6 billion USD worth of shares owned by current and former employees, as reported by Bloomberg. The funds were not part of a capital raise for the company itself but resulted from ownership transfers between private investors. The main buyers included SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital, MGX and T. Rowe Price.
With this transaction, OpenAI has now overtaken Elon Musk’s SpaceX in valuation among private companies. The company has also agreed to spend 300 billion USD on Oracle Cloud Services over the next five years, a figure that far exceeds its current income and financial reserves.
Meanwhile, its competitor Meta has been aggressively hiring talent from OpenAI. Over the summer, Meta enticed at least seven top engineers with large signing bonuses. The rivalry in AI infrastructure, investment, and talent is intensifying, and there is not yet a clear leader.