OpenAI Surpasses SpaceX With Five Hundred Billion Pound Valuation

OpenAI has eclipsed Elon Musk’s SpaceX to become the most valuable start up in the world, according to a recent deal that now values the artificial intelligence pioneer at five hundred billion dollars. This milestone follows a significant secondary share sale that allowed current and former OpenAI workers to sell around six point six billion dollars’ worth of their stock.

When compared with the latest figures from SpaceX — which stood at four hundred billion dollars in July after its own internal share sale — OpenAI’s meteoric rise is all the more remarkable. SpaceX has long held the title of the world’s most valuable start up, but the sustained appetite for artificial intelligence investment is shifting the landscape at speed.

Back in March, OpenAI achieved a three hundred billion dollar valuation after attracting around forty billion dollars in fresh finance, mostly from SoftBank Group. A quarter of the funding stemmed from other powerhouse investors, including Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital and Thrive Capital. Recent months saw growing interest in employee share sales, reportedly with investors keen for more than ten billion dollars’ worth of stock, though many OpenAI employees declined to sell all their shares in this round.

Investor appetite for OpenAI appears insatiable. Last month, Nvidia revealed plans to invest up to one hundred billion dollars in OpenAI, a move that would grant the chipmaker a significant stake as part of a joint initiative to build advanced data centres. The deal will see OpenAI acquiring millions of Nvidia’s AI processors, targeting as much as ten gigawatts of computing capacity. If completed, Nvidia’s commitment would be the largest investment in private company history.

OpenAI’s annual recurring revenue has soared since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, now reaching twelve billion dollars. The company’s projections suggest it could achieve at least twenty billion dollars in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2025, cementing its place as a dominant force within the technology sector and among global investors.