By Staff, Agencies

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is reportedly negotiating a stock sale that could value the company at $500 billion, according to Bloomberg.

If finalized, this would make OpenAI the world’s most valuable private tech firm, overtaking SpaceX’s $400 billion valuation.

The potential deal, still in early discussions, would allow current and former employees to sell their shares to investors. All existing investors, including Thrive Capital, are said to be involved. The final valuation will depend on investor demand.

The move follows a recent $40 billion funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank that valued OpenAI at $300 billion.

During that round, the company raised $8.3 billion amid overwhelming interest—five times the available shares. Sources suggest the upcoming sale could exceed OpenAI’s previous $1.5 billion employee stock sale.

Neither OpenAI nor Thrive Capital commented on the report.

This comes amid a broader AI investment surge. Tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet are collectively expected to spend over $400 billion on AI by 2026.

Analysts note that President Trump’s proposed “Big Beautiful Bill,” which offers tax incentives for early capital investment, could push those numbers even higher.

OpenAI has rapidly grown since launching ChatGPT in late 2022, now generating $12 billion in annual subscription revenue. Its competitor Anthropic has also seen rapid gains, with revenues quadrupling to $4 billion this year.

To maintain its lead, OpenAI recently released customizable “open weight” AI models for developers and is preparing to launch its new GPT-5 model later this month.