According to The Information , OpenAI is in talks with Amazon for a new round of funding worth tens of billions of dollars, valuing the company at up to $750 billion (approximately NT$24 trillion). If the deal goes through, the company will firmly establish itself as one of the world's most valuable private companies.
Valuation jump
Just two months ago, OpenAI sold existing shares on the secondary market at a valuation of $500 billion, 50% higher than the previous round. Based on SoftBank's implied share price and November's private placement records, a valuation of $750 billion had already emerged in off-market capital. Compared to this year's estimated revenue of $3 billion, even using the lower estimate of $500 billion, the revenue multiple is 167 times, far exceeding the typical SaaS company level of about 15-20 times.
Investors are betting on OpenAI's leading position in the AGI (Automatic Gaining Intelligence) field, expecting it to generate long-term monopoly cash flow, and are choosing to tolerate its current rate of cash burn. Research institutions estimate that OpenAI's cash expenditures could reach as high as $47 billion by 2028, meaning the company will have to constantly return to the capital market to replenish its funds.
Amazon Computing Alliance and Rumors of Billions in Investment
While its valuation soars, OpenAI is also paving the way for cost reduction. The company has reportedly confirmed the use of Amazon AWS's Trainium 2 chip to train subsequent models such as GPT-5, which the company claims offers four times the cost-effectiveness of comparable GPUs. By renting more AWS data centers, OpenAI is further implementing its "multi-cloud" strategy, reducing its reliance on Microsoft Azure and Nvidia H100.
In conclusion, the news that OpenAI's valuation is challenging $750 billion, coupled with Amazon's dual moves in chip manufacturing and capital, has pushed the capital market's consensus on "AI winner-takes-all" to a new high. Whether this tug-of-war between high valuations and high cash burn can be sustained in the long run remains to be seen, depending on how quickly OpenAI can truly monetize its AI.
