OpenAI in talks for share sale that could crown it the most valuable private tech firm in history

OpenAI is in advanced talks to launch a share sale that could value the company at $500 billion, potentially making it the world’s most valuable private technology group—surpassing even Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The artificial intelligence powerhouse, which launched ChatGPT in 2022, is planning a secondary stock sale aimed at allowing current and former employees to cash out their shares. While the final valuation is still subject to investor demand, sources familiar with the matter say discussions with backers like Thrive Capital are already well underway.

This fresh wave of fundraising comes off the back of OpenAI’s $40 billion primary funding round led by SoftBank, which priced the company at $300 billion. But interest in artificial intelligence has skyrocketed, driving OpenAI’s valuation skyward in a matter of months.

If the deal goes ahead, it would catapult OpenAI ahead of SpaceX, which was recently valued at $400 billion, placing it firmly at the summit of private tech companies worldwide.

The potential $500 billion valuation reflects growing investor belief that OpenAI is not only dominating the AI race but could become a multi-trillion-dollar business in the coming years.

Unlike traditional capital raises, the current deal focuses on a secondary sale, where shares held by employees and early backers are sold to new investors. The exact volume of shares to be sold has not been confirmed, but insiders believe it will far exceed the $1.5 billion transacted in a similar deal late last year.

Neither OpenAI nor Thrive Capital has publicly commented on the negotiations.

The news comes amid a frenzied AI boom, with venture capitalists and tech giants alike pouring funds into companies building the next generation of machine-learning models. Industry watchers say this is the most aggressive funding environment seen in decades.

Since ChatGPT’s release, OpenAI has seen its annual recurring revenue (ARR) climb dramatically—reportedly hitting $12 billion, with projections of over $20 billion by the end of 2025. The figure is a key metric used by investors to gauge long-term subscription growth and enterprise value.

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s closest competitor, Anthropic, has notched up $4 billion in ARR this year and is reportedly seeking a valuation of $170 billion through a fresh raise of at least $5 billion. Despite their enormous valuations, both OpenAI and Anthropic remain loss-making, due largely to the eye-watering costs of training and running frontier AI models.

Tech industry giants are also riding the wave. Several of the world’s largest public companies have seen their market caps swell by hundreds of billions in recent weeks, as investors respond to escalating commitments toward AI development.

The competition is fierce. Major players are racing to offer tools capable of generating code, images, and text from user prompts. In a single week, Anthropic launched upgrades to its coding capabilities, while OpenAI unveiled open-weight models available for free use and developer customisation.

All eyes now turn to OpenAI’s expected release of GPT-5, its next-generation model. The launch, anticipated this month, could further cement the company’s dominance in the field and send valuation expectations even higher.

If the secondary sale proceeds at the mooted valuation, it will mark a historic moment not only for OpenAI but for the entire tech sector—solidifying AI’s status as the defining investment frontier of the decade.