OpenAI hits $500B valuation after share sale, source says (www.reuters.com)

OpenAI has reached a reported $500 billion valuation after a private share sale to employees and investors, according to Reuters sources. The transaction provided liquidity for early staff and insiders while re-pricing the company far above most public peers in the cloud and AI space. The move reflects intense investor enthusiasm for companies that commercialize large‑scale generative models and positions OpenAI as one of the most valuable private AI firms globally. For the AI/ML community, the milestone matters beyond headlines: a higher valuation signals expectations of sustained revenue growth from APIs, enterprise deals and product integrations, and it provides OpenAI with greater financial firepower to scale compute, hire top talent, and accelerate research into larger, more capable models. That likely increases demand for GPUs and cloud infrastructure, sharpens competition with Google, Anthropic and Microsoft (already a major partner), and may prompt closer regulatory and market scrutiny around safety, governance and market concentration. Practically, the deal underscores how commercial success of LLMs is reshaping capital flows and strategic priorities across the AI ecosystem.