Openai Could Be Worth As Much As Tiktok Owner Bytedance With Softbank's Latest Investment

Sam Altman and Masayoshi Son announced the Stargate project together at the White House.

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• SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, which could value it around $300 billion.
• The deal could make OpenAI the joint-second most valuable tech company after SpaceX.
• The funding round could see OpenAI pump $15 billion into the Stargate AI infrastructure project.

SoftBank is preparing to lead fresh investment into OpenAI at a $300 billion valuation, Business Insider understands — a move that would value the ChatGPT maker the same as TikTok owner ByteDance.

The Japanese investment giant is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, the Financial Times first reported.

While SpaceX is the most valuable private company in the world, the funding round could push OpenAI up to second spot alongside Chinese tech giant ByteDance. OpenAI currently ranks as the third-most valuable private tech firm.

Talks between OpenAI and SoftBank are ongoing, which means details around the the round size and valuation are subject to change. If the AI juggernaut hits its target valuation of $300 billion, it would nearly double its current valuation of $157 billion.

SpaceX's valuation is around $350 billion after the Elon Musk-owned company agreed to buy back $1.25 billion worth of stock at $185 a share in December. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, similarly catapulted its valuation to $300 billion following a buyback offer, offering investors a price of about $180 per share, the Wall Street Journal reported in November.

OpenAI could become one of three companies globally with a centibillion valuation; Stripe and Shein follow suit with valuations of $70 billion and $66 billion, respectively.

Prior to SoftBank's latest investment talks, OpenAI raised nearly $20 billion from investment heavyweights, including Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Nvidia.

If SoftBank invests $15 to $20 billion into OpenAI, it would overtake Microsoft — which has poured around $13 billion into the company so far — as OpenAI's lead investor.

Such a deal would mark the most significant bet yet on the generative AI boom from SoftBank and form a key part of the wider ambitions of its billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son, to usher in an era of "artificial super intelligence."

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Son, who made his original fortune from a timely bet on Alibaba in the dot-com era, has previously spoken about his nonstop use of OpenAI's ChatGPT, and predicted AI that is 10,000 times smarter than humans will arrive by the midpoint of the next decade.

A fresh investment from SoftBank would also further deepen its relationship with OpenAI after the companies announced plans last week to form Stargate, a joint venture that aims to spend up to $500 billion on AI infrastructure projects in the US over the next four years.

SoftBank's Son will serve as chairman of the project, which was unveiled at the White House by President Donald Trump. Initial equity funders include Oracle and the UAE's MGX alongside SoftBank and OpenAI. The project will begin deploying $100 billion immediately, according to OpenAI.

It is not yet clear where the companies will source the capital from, with OpenAI currently lossmaking. It has been suggested that SoftBank's proposed equity investment could allow OpenAI to invest around $15 billion in Stargate.

SoftBank declined to comment. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Business Insider request for comment.