Podcast Episode
The sheer scale of the round has attracted the biggest names in tech. SoftBank is in talks to contribute up to thirty billion dollars, building on its existing stake following a forty-one billion dollar investment completed in late 2025. Nvidia is reportedly considering up to thirty billion dollars, Amazon could invest as much as fifty billion, and Microsoft is looking at less than ten billion. OpenAI has also been courting Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.
The growth figures arrive at a critical moment. OpenAI faces intensifying competition from Anthropic, which recently released Claude Opus four point six just minutes before OpenAI launched its own competing product, in what has become a synchronised product battle between the two AI giants.
Much of this spending feeds Project Stargate, an ambitious multi-year initiative to build a global network of AI supercomputing clusters. Construction is already underway at the flagship campus in Abilene, Texas.
OpenAI Closes In on Record One Hundred Billion Dollar Funding Round at Eight Hundred and Thirty Billion Dollar Valuation
February 9, 2026
Audio archived. Episodes older than 60 days are removed to save server storage. Story details remain below.
OpenAI is on the verge of closing the largest private funding round in tech history, seeking up to one hundred billion dollars at a valuation of roughly eight hundred and thirty billion dollars. CEO Sam Altman has told employees that ChatGPT growth has rebounded to over ten percent monthly, as the company courts major investors including SoftBank, Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft.
The Biggest Private Raise in History
OpenAI is closing in on what would be the single largest private funding round the technology industry has ever seen. The company is seeking up to one hundred billion dollars in fresh capital, which would value the ChatGPT maker at approximately eight hundred and thirty billion dollars.The sheer scale of the round has attracted the biggest names in tech. SoftBank is in talks to contribute up to thirty billion dollars, building on its existing stake following a forty-one billion dollar investment completed in late 2025. Nvidia is reportedly considering up to thirty billion dollars, Amazon could invest as much as fifty billion, and Microsoft is looking at less than ten billion. OpenAI has also been courting Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.
Growth Rebounds Amid Fierce Competition
CEO Sam Altman shared an internal Slack message with employees on Friday revealing that ChatGPT has recovered to more than ten percent monthly growth, with the platform now exceeding eight hundred million weekly active users. The company's coding tool, Codex, has seen usage jump roughly fifty percent week over week.The growth figures arrive at a critical moment. OpenAI faces intensifying competition from Anthropic, which recently released Claude Opus four point six just minutes before OpenAI launched its own competing product, in what has become a synchronised product battle between the two AI giants.
Burning Cash at Extraordinary Speed
Despite the revenue surge, with twenty billion dollars reported for 2025 and expectations to more than double that figure in 2026, OpenAI continues to burn cash at a staggering rate. The company has committed over one trillion dollars in infrastructure spending through 2035, with internal projections suggesting losses of up to fourteen to seventeen billion dollars in 2026 alone.Much of this spending feeds Project Stargate, an ambitious multi-year initiative to build a global network of AI supercomputing clusters. Construction is already underway at the flagship campus in Abilene, Texas.
IPO on the Horizon
The funding round is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2026, positioning OpenAI for a highly anticipated initial public offering targeted for late 2026. If completed, the valuation would place OpenAI alongside the world's most established tech giants.Published February 9, 2026 at 10:26pm