OpenAI Lowers Its Valuation to $1.25 Trillion
OpenAI is closing a $30 billion round at $1.25 trillion, $150 billion below the figure in earlier talks, while Anthropic eyes up to $2 trillion.
Read the storyOpenAI
From the models to the business behind them. Follow our reporting on OpenAI and the choices shaping the AI industry.
Follow OpenAI
Explore the coverage Get AI Secret’s free daily briefing, including OpenAI and the wider AI industry.
At a glance
AI research and deployment company behind ChatGPT. Coverage follows its models, products, research, governance and the business of deploying AI.
- Focus
- ChatGPT; AI models and research
- Reference
- OpenAI
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Dates retain the precision of the source; retrospective disclosures are identified in the event. Annualized revenue levels are not audited annual sales. Financing commitments are not revenue.
Company milestones
Revenue, funding, product launches and major company events, newest first. Expand the earlier milestones for more history.
Reported September annualized revenue is nearly $50B
Reuters reports a September run rate near $50B. Earlier figures near $70B used a different sales presentation; the two should not be treated as directly comparable growth milestones.
Source: ReutersBrings GPT-6 and Intelligent UI to everyone
OpenAI extends the new model generation beyond paid customers and reports more than 1.2B weekly ChatGPT users. This is user reach, not paid subscribers.
Source: OpenAI
Show earlier milestonesHide earlier milestones2026–2015 · 9 milestones
Earlier revenue, financing and company milestones.
$122B in committed capital at $852B valuation
OpenAI closes a financing round with $122B in committed capital. Commitments and valuation are financing measures, not sales.
Source: OpenAIDiscloses $2B → $6B → $20B+ annualized growth
The CFO retrospectively reports $2B ARR in 2023, $6B in 2024 and over $20B in 2025. These are year-specific annualized levels, not recognized annual revenue; this is the disclosure date.
Source: OpenAIAnnounces $40B financing at $300B valuation
The SoftBank-led financing is announced alongside 500M weekly ChatGPT users. The figure is announced funding, rather than an ARR milestone.
Source: OpenAIAdds a $4B revolving credit facility
The credit agreement follows $6.6B in equity funding. Available borrowing capacity is distinct from equity proceeds and revenue.
Source: OpenAIReleases GPT-4
GPT-4 expands the model platform beyond ChatGPT’s original research-preview generation, with API access initially offered through a waitlist.
Source: OpenAILaunches the ChatGPT research preview
The conversational interface makes instruction-following language models available directly to the public.
Source: OpenAIOpens its first commercial API
Developers gain access to general-purpose language models through an API, establishing a business alongside research.
Source: OpenAICreates a capped-profit partnership
OpenAI announces LP alongside its nonprofit, adding a structure for financing large-scale research and commercial development.
Source: OpenAIOpenAI is announced
The organization begins as a nonprofit AI research company, preceding its later commercial API and subscription businesses.
Source: OpenAI
The latest on OpenAI
Newest firstRelated reporting
Briefs, articles and relevant sections, newest first. Explore older coverage below.
More coverage
1 min read · Members
OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia Set Lobbying Records
Nvidia, Anthropic and OpenAI each set lobbying records this summer; OpenAI, under half a million a quarter until late 2024, spent $1.53 million.
1 min read · Members
OpenAI's Former Data Center Chief Joins Nvidia
OpenAI's former data center chief Chris Malone now helps run Nvidia's DSX Platform, while the leadership OpenAI called clear in August keeps changing.
8 min read · Members
OpenClaw's Creator Burns $10M a Month
Plus: Humans Were the Bug, Giants Wants Free Chatters to Pay
1 min read · Members
OpenAI Puts Its Models on Google Cloud
OpenAI's GPT-6 models enter private preview on Google Cloud, making Google the only big cloud selling all three leading closed models. Microsoft stays primary partner.
1 min read · Members
OpenAI and Google Models Find PHP Flaw
GPT-5.6 Sol and Gemini 4 Argon helped find PHP flaws letting attackers run code on websites, and Wiz and OpenAI warn attackers gain that power.
1 min read · Members
OpenAI's Agent Cut Its Monitor, Then Lied
OpenAI says a GPT-6 Astra agent removed monitoring from a user's code and then denied it, while a Sol agent silenced human alerts.
2 min read · Members
X Post Says Astra Costs 2.5x Opus
An X user's complaint that GPT-6 Astra costs 2.5 times Opus 5.5 checks out on price, while OpenAI keeps answering Codex users with limit resets.
1 min read · Members
OpenAI Buys Drug Program Startup Orchestra Bio
OpenAI is folding Orchestra Bio's drug program agents into Rosalind, its life sciences unit, without disclosing terms or a date for the agents to ship.
1 min read · Members
Altman Faces X Backlash Over Balaji Remarks
An X post uses an unconfirmed screenshot to question Altman's Balaji friendship claim, though his own words to Carlson included "not a close friend."
