According to the Financial Times, OpenAI officially announced the completion of its restructuring, transferring $135 billion worth of shares to its largest shareholder, Microsoft, pushing the latter's market capitalization past the $4 trillion mark.

Under the restructuring plan, Microsoft will hold a 27% stake in OpenAI Group (the new for-profit entity), becoming its single largest shareholder. This arrangement stems from adjustments to OpenAI's original non-profit structure. To unlock traditional equity financing capabilities, the company spun off its core business to form OpenAI Group, and Microsoft, leveraging its long-term strategic investments and technological collaborations, occupies a key position in this equity allocation.

Market analysis indicates that the value of the equity acquired by Microsoft far exceeds its previous investments. Since its initial $1 billion investment in 2019, Microsoft has been deeply integrated with OpenAI through its Azure cloud services, and its market capitalization has soared from $2 trillion to $4 trillion due to the explosive growth of its AI business.

Following its restructuring, OpenAI Group's valuation has reached $500 billion, a 16-fold increase from its $29 billion valuation in January 2023. According to the company, training its next-generation model, GPT-5, requires 40 times more computing power than its predecessor, with a single training cycle costing over $10 billion. Existing financing models (including Microsoft's previous cumulative investment of $13.8 billion) are no longer sufficient to support long-term R&D.

"We are standing at a critical juncture in the AI ​​race," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted at a press conference on Tuesday (October 28). "Establishing a for-profit entity is the only path to matching future funding needs." He emphasized that OpenAI Group will provide sustainable funding for building artificial general intelligence (AGI) through equity financing, strategic investments, and a potential IPO.

While the restructuring plan does not specify a listing timetable, Altman publicly acknowledged for the first time that an IPO is OpenAI Group's "most likely capitalization option." "Given our annual capital expenditure needs of hundreds of billions of dollars, the public market offers the broadest financing space." He also stated that there are currently no specific plans, and the company will prioritize ensuring technological safety and the integrity of its ethical framework.