The valuation jump comes after current and former employees sold approximately $6.6 billion in shares to a consortium of global investors, including SoftBank, Thrive Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price. The transaction underscores the international appeal of OpenAI and the recognition of its leadership in cutting-edge artificial intelligence.

OpenAI’s strong performance is evident in its financial growth. The company reported around $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, representing a 16% increase over its total revenue in 2024. The figures reflect both the increasing adoption of AI solutions across industries and OpenAI’s ability to innovate rapidly to meet market demands.

The share sale also builds on previous investments, including SoftBank’s participation in OpenAI’s $40 billion primary funding round, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term growth and strategic direction.

Industry analysts highlight that OpenAI’s success is part of a broader surge in AI development, as companies worldwide seek to harness intelligent systems for business, education, and everyday life. The company’s achievements demonstrate the transformative potential of AI technology and its contribution to global economic growth, talent development, and technological leadership.

The $500 billion valuation not only positions OpenAI as one of the world’s most valuable technology firms, but also highlights the promise of artificial intelligence to redefine industries and create opportunities for innovation at unprecedented scale. Experts note that OpenAI’s approach to research, product development, and talent retention continues to set benchmarks for the AI sector, inspiring competition and collaboration across the tech landscape.

By achieving this milestone, OpenAI reinforces its role as a global leader in AI, setting a standard for responsible, high-impact innovation while continuing to expand the accessibility and usability of its technologies for businesses, governments, and individuals worldwide.

This milestone celebrates not just financial growth, but also the company’s contribution to a global technological revolution, paving the way for new applications in education, healthcare, enterprise solutions, and more. Investors and industry observers see OpenAI’s trajectory as a signal of continued innovation and economic opportunity in artificial intelligence.

Llama is a large language model capable of processing data, including text, video, images and audio.

The social media giant is now expanding access to a number of U.S. democratic allies in Europe and Asia: France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea, as well as NATO and European Union institutions, it said in a blog post.

Meta will partner with companies such as Microsoft (MSFT.O), Amazon’s (AMZN.O), AWS, Oracle (ORCL.N), and Palantir (PLTR.O), among others, to bring Llama-based solutions to the U.S. allies.

Meta releases its Llama models largely free of charge for use by developers, a strategy CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously stated will pay off in the form of innovative products, less dependence on would-be competitors and greater engagement on the company’s core social networks.

The U.S. government’s purchasing arm, the General Services Administration, will add Llama to its list of approved AI tools for federal agencies, procurement lead Josh Gruenbaum said on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump in January hosted top tech CEOs to launch Stargate, a private-sector initiative that plans to spend up to $500 billion to build AI infrastructure.

AI is a priority for Trump and tech companies that are pouring billions into building the computers that are necessary to power the technology.

hatGPT-maker OpenAI said on Tuesday it will open three new sites with Oracle in Shackelford County, Texas, Dona Ana County, New Mexico and an undisclosed site in the Midwest. Two more data center sites will be built in Lordstown, Ohio and Milam County, Texas by OpenAI, Japan’s SoftBank and a SoftBank affiliate.

The new sites, the Oracle-OpenAI site expansion in Abilene, Texas, and the ongoing projects with CoreWeave (CRWV.O), will bring Stargate’s total data center capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts and more than $400 billion in investment over the next three years, OpenAI said.

The $500 billion project was intended to generate 10 gigawatts in total data center capacity.

“AI can only fulfill its promise if we build the compute to power it,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement.

The Tuesday’s announcement, expected to create 25,000 onsite jobs, follows Nvidia (NVDA.O), saying on Monday that it will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply data center chips.

OpenAI and partners plan to use debt financing to lease chips for the Stargate project, people familiar with the matter said.

OpenAI and its backer Microsoft (MSFT.O), are among the tech giants pouring billions into data centers to power generative AI services such as ChatGPT and Copilot.

AI’s role in sensitive sectors such as defense and China’s push to catch up have made the nascent technology a top priority for Trump.