OpenAI has closed a $6.5 billion funding round, the largest ever for a private company, pushing its valuation to $150 billion. The round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Microsoft, NVIDIA, and SoftBank.
Why this matters: The deal signals that despite growing scrutiny of AI companies' path to profitability, top-tier investors remain willing to make massive bets on the sector's long-term potential.
By the numbers: - Pre-money valuation: $150B (up from $86B in February) - Total raised to date: $11.3B - Annual recurring revenue: $3.4B (up 4x year-over-year)
Our take: The valuation implies investors believe OpenAI will become the dominant AI platform — not just a chatbot company. At $150B, they're priced like a late-stage enterprise software giant, which means the pressure to ship enterprise products just got significantly heavier.
