OpenAI raised $11 billion in the first stage of its funding round

OpenAI raised $11 billion in the first tranche of its funding round, with SoftBank and MGX among the participants. The company was valued at $1.25 trillion, below the $1.5 trillion target initially set for the round. The shortfall signals that investor appetite, while still enormous, may be cooling relative to OpenAI's earlier ambitions. The deal underscores SoftBank's continued push into AI and the scale of capital required to sustain OpenAI's compute-heavy expansion. What to watch next is whether OpenAI closes the remaining tranches at or near the original $1.5 trillion target and which additional investors join.