OpenAI overtakes SpaceX as most valuable US-based private company

Microsoft-backed (NASDAQ:MSFT) OpenAI overtook Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the highest valued private company in the US following its latest funding round.

OpenAI, which has received an estimated $13B in funding from Microsoft, has a post-money valuation of $157B following its latest $6.6B funding round.

“We’re grateful to our investors for their trust in us, and we look forward to working with our partners, developers, and the broader community to shape an AI-powered ecosystem and future that benefits everyone,” OpenAI said in a statement.

SpaceX has a valuation of $125B, according to data by Crunchbase. The only private company in the world with a higher valuation is the China-based ByteDance (BDNCE), which is the parent of the popular social media app TikTok. It is valued at $220B.

The ChatGPT creator is in a world by itself when compared to the valuations of other AI startups.

In comparison, xAI, which is also founded by Musk and a direct competitor with OpenAI, is valued at $24B. The next highest-valued AI startup is San Francisco-based Scale AI at $14B. The French-based Mistral AI and the Toronto-based Cohere are both valued at $6B. Anthropic is worth $4B.

OpenAI was originally branded as a not-for-profit company created to “benefit humanity.” Its meteoric rise in valuation and massive investments are causing the Sam Altman-led company to alter its direction.

It recently hired Sarah Friar as its chief financial officer. Companies trying to go public typically hire a CFO to help guide the process. Friar helped Block (SQ) achieve its initial public offering in 2015, and later became the CEO of Nextdoor (KIND) before it went public in 2021.