OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was seen alongside SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son following remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding AI infrastructure during an event at the White House on January 21, 2025. According to CNBC, OpenAI is currently negotiating a funding round that could raise as much as $40 billion, potentially boosting the company’s valuation to approximately $340 billion.
SoftBank is expected to take the lead in this funding round, contributing between $15 billion and $25 billion, as reported by sources familiar with the discussions. If the deal goes through, SoftBank would become OpenAI’s largest investor, overtaking Microsoft.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to break the news about these negotiations. It’s reported that a portion of the funding may be directed towards Stargate, a collaborative venture involving SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle, which was unveiled by President Trump the previous week. This initiative aims to invest billions in enhancing U.S. AI infrastructure.
OpenAI was last valued at $157 billion by private investors. The company’s ChatGPT chatbot, launched in late 2022, has played a significant role in the surge of interest in generative AI technologies. OpenAI completed a $6.6 billion funding round in October, positioning itself for fierce competition with other tech giants, including Elon Musk’s xAI, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Anthropic.
In a related development, the Chinese startup DeepSeek is gaining traction in the U.S. market, posing a new challenge to OpenAI. DeepSeek’s app recently climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store, causing ripples in U.S. markets amid reports that it developed its advanced model at a significantly lower cost than its American counterparts. During an event hosted by OpenAI in Washington, D.C., Sam Altman acknowledged DeepSeek’s capabilities, stating, “This is a reminder of the level of competition and the need for democratic AI to succeed.” He also highlighted the growing interest in reasoning and open-source technologies within the AI landscape.
