OpenAI officially announced a historic $110 billion funding round, the largest private capital raise in corporate history. The financing sets OpenAI’s post-money valuation at a staggering $840 billion, positioning it as one of the most valuable entities in the world.
The round was led by a trio of tech giants and investment powerhouses, marking a major shift in the AI landscape and the start of an “infrastructure-first” era.
The $110 Billion Breakdown
The capital comes primarily from three strategic partners, with additional financial investors expected to join as the round progresses:
- Amazon: Contributed the largest share with a $50 billion commitment.
- Nvidia: Invested $30 billion, further intertwining the world’s leading AI chipmaker with its largest customer.
- SoftBank: Matched Nvidia’s stake with a $30 billion investment, continuing Masayoshi Son’s aggressive “AI-only” strategy.
Strategic Partnerships & The “Amazon Shift”
While Microsoft remains a core partner, the entry of Amazon signals a massive diversification of OpenAI’s infrastructure:
- Exclusive AWS Deal: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is now the exclusive third-party cloud provider for OpenAI Frontier, a new enterprise platform for building and managing autonomous AI agents.
- Trainium Integration: OpenAI will utilize 2 gigawatts of computing capacity powered by Amazon’s in-house Trainium chips.
- Nvidia Vera Rubin: The deal also secures 5 gigawatts of capacity on Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin systems (3 GW for inference and 2 GW for training).
- Microsoft Status: OpenAI and Microsoft issued a joint statement confirming their relationship remains “central.” Microsoft Azure continues to be the exclusive provider for OpenAI’s APIs and the primary host for its consumer products.
Usage Milestones: Scaling to 1 Billion
Accompanying the funding news, CEO Sam Altman shared record-breaking user metrics that underscore the “Daily Use” phase of frontier AI:
| Metric | 2026 Milestone |
| Weekly Active Users | 900 Million+ (Approaching the 1 billion mark) |
| Consumer Subscribers | 50 Million+ (Paid ChatGPT Plus/Max users) |
| Paying Business Users | 9 Million+ organizations |
| Weekly Codex Users | 1.6 Million (Tripled since the start of the year) |
Impact on the OpenAI Foundation
The $840 billion valuation has also transformed the OpenAI Foundation (the non-profit wing).
- The Foundation’s 26% equity stake is now valued at over $180 billion.
- This makes it one of the most well-resourced philanthropic entities in history, with a mandate to fund global breakthroughs in health and AI resilience.
Market Context
This raise dwarfs previous records, including OpenAI’s own $40 billion round in 2025 and Anthropic’s $30 billion Series G earlier this month. The sheer scale of the investment—targeting $600 billion in total compute spend through 2030—suggests that OpenAI is no longer just a software company, but is building the physical “utilities” for the future global economy.
