OpenAI could become the most valuable private company in the world, valued at $500 billion
Date: 2025-08-21 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
According to Axios, OpenAI is in talks with investors about new rounds of funding that could significantly increase its market valuation. Two scenarios are being considered: investment from SoftBank valued at around $300 billion or a secondary sale of employee shares, where the company's value could reach $500 billion. If the second option is implemented, OpenAI will receive the status of the most valuable private company in the world.
Despite the rapid growth in value, investor interest remains high. Wired cites one market participant who compared the situation to the era of the Internet. According to his calculations, with two billion ChatGPT users and a subscription of $5 per month, OpenAI could generate up to $120 billion in revenue annually. However, as of early August 2025, ChatGPT has about 700 million active users per week, of which less than 10% are paying customers. Company representatives did not comment on this data.
OpenAI's financial indicators also show growth. Revenue for January-July 2025 doubled and reached $12 billion, which corresponds to an increase of almost $1 billion per month. The number of corporate clients has exceeded 5 million, including large businesses. At the same time, the company's expenses remain significant: this year they can reach $8 billion, the bulk of which goes to infrastructure for running AI models. According to Sam Altman, investments in data centers in the future may already amount to trillions of dollars.
Experts disagree on the prospects. New York University professor Arun Sundararajan believes that the key challenge will be retaining users while reducing costs. Only in this case will it be possible to implement a conditional income model of $5 per client. His colleague Glenn Okun added that many investors expect OpenAI to IPO with a valuation of over $1 trillion in the next two to three years. Otherwise, the attractiveness of investments will be in doubt.
At the same time, analysts warn: prices on the private market often do not reflect the real value of the business, but only the willingness of a limited number of investors to pay for shares. According to PitchBook, in 2025, almost two-thirds of all venture investments were in the artificial intelligence sector. Among the largest deals are investments in Thinking Machines Lab, a startup by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, as well as Meta's agreement with Scale AI for $14 billion.
Altman himself, according to media reports, acknowledged the presence of a "bubble" in the valuations of AI companies at a closed meeting in San Francisco. However, he emphasized that the impact of technology on the world is comparable to the rapid development of the Internet. Investors, in turn, hope that OpenAI will be able to take a place in the daily lives of billions of people, as Google once did, and will turn into a service that people around the world are willing to pay for.
The total revenue of the ChatGPT mobile application since its launch is estimated at about $2 billion, which only strengthens investors' interest in the company.
