Business 29 June 2026

OpenAI's mega-round reignites fears of an AI bubble

With the ChatGPT maker valued at $852 billion, the question grows louder: are world markets leaning too hard on a single bet?

That OpenAI closed the largest round ever was already known. The question left hanging over the markets is a different, more awkward one: is artificial intelligence inflating a bubble the size of a continent?

The maths is dizzying. The company was valued at around $852 billion, with giant cheques from Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank. The trouble is that much of the rise in world stock markets over recent months rests on a handful of AI-linked firms. When so much hope is concentrated in so few names, any stumble is felt by everyone.

What it changes for investors here

For the Portuguese investor, the lesson is not to rush out and buy OpenAI shares — it is not even listed. It is to grasp that even an apparently diversified global index fund is now heavily exposed to this bet. If AI fails to deliver profits at the expected pace, the correction could be broad.

That does not mean it is a bubble doomed to burst tomorrow. It means it is worth looking at your portfolio and asking how much of it depends, directly or indirectly, on a single narrative. Diversifying has gone from textbook advice to plain financial hygiene.

See also: the numbers behind OpenAI’s record round. The company’s official updates are at openai.com.

By Beatriz Mota

Image: 首相官邸ホームページ / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

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Our running tracker of the markets that move savings in Portugal — gold, Fed and ECB decisions, oil and stocks. Updated whenever there is news.

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Economic growth chart with an upward line

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