Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI is in early discussions for a funding round that could value it at a whopping $340 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal, which would more than double its valuation amid competitive threats from up-and-coming Chinese AI firm DeepSeek.

SoftBank could invest $15 billion to $25 billion directly into Microsoft-backed OpenAI, some of which may be used to pay for OpenAI's commitment to Stargate, Reuters had reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

OpenAI is seeking to raise up to $40 billion in new funding at a valuation of $340 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

Some of the funding would be used to help cover OpenAI’s $18 billion commitment to the recently announced Stargate project.

Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI in talks to raise new $40 billion funding, at a valuation of $340 billion.

OpenAI is reportedly in talks to raise $40bn in a funding round led by SoftBank, taking the nine-year-old start-up to a $340bn valuation.

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The San Francisco-based company was last valued at $157 billion in October, when it secured $6.6 billion of investment. Microsoft led a previous round of financing totalling $10 billion, integrating OpenAI’s technology into its suite of Office products and significantly boosting the AI startup’s profile.

Using DeepSeek's AI models and integrating them into its hardware aligns well with Apple’s strategy and keeps the company competitive in the AI race without reinventing the wheel or moving away from its core business model.

Tech giants around the globe were rattled on Jan. 27 after Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek unveiled an impressive, low-cost artificial intelligence (AI) model, sparking widespread concerns about the scale of investment being poured into expensive hardware and data centers.

“The takeaway is that there are many possibilities to develop this industry. The high-end chip/capital intensive way is one technological approach. But DeepSeek proves we are still in the nascent stage of AI development and the path established by OpenAI may not be the only route to highly capable AI.”