Bank of America Finally Says Yes to OpenAI With $520 Million Loan Ahead of IPO

TLDR

• Bank of America gave OpenAI a $520 million credit line, its first loan to the AI company.
• The bank had turned down OpenAI’s request for financing as recently as last year.
• OpenAI confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO last month and may list this year.
• Total credit available to OpenAI from banks is now above $5 billion.
• Bank of America is also seeking an advisory role on the OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs.

Bank of America has given OpenAI a $520 million credit line. This is the bank’s first loan to the artificial intelligence company, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The loan makes Bank of America one of OpenAI’s biggest lenders. It also adds to the bank’s reputation as a leader in AI-related financing deals.

Bank of America had turned down OpenAI’s request for money in the past. As recently as last year, bank executives were unsure about companies that spend heavily without a proven way to make money.

Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan has pushed a “responsible growth” plan. That plan generally avoids risky bets for corporate clients.

Why the Bank Changed Course

OpenAI’s plans for an initial public offering played a role in the bank’s decision to lend money, according to people familiar with the matter. Bank of America sees taking part in a major stock listing as useful for its Merrill Lynch wealth business.

The bank became more comfortable lending to AI companies once it decided the market would support their business models. This is true even though many of these companies are not yet profitable.

Investors have shown they are willing to back AI companies at high valuations. Those valuations are often not linked to current earnings. This change in investor thinking gave the bank more confidence to lend.

The new $520 million loan adds to money already available to OpenAI from other banks. Together, OpenAI now has access to more than $5 billion in credit.

OpenAI’s Path to an IPO

OpenAI confidentially filed for a U.S. stock market listing last month. The ChatGPT maker is reportedly aiming for a valuation of more than $1 trillion.

The listing could happen as soon as this year, according to earlier Reuters reporting. OpenAI has become one of the biggest names in the AI industry since its founding.

The company started in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab. It created a for-profit arm four years later to help pay for the rising cost of building AI systems.

Bank of America has raised close to $500 billion for AI-related companies since 2025. That figure covers investment-grade debt, leveraged finance, and equity capital markets, according to internal bank data seen by Reuters.

The bank accounts for 60% of that type of AI fundraising across the industry. It is also looking at advisory roles for both the OpenAI and Anthropic public listings, according to a second source.

This move follows Bank of America’s part in another large stock debut earlier this year. The bank served as a joint bookrunner for the SpaceX IPO in June and led U.S. retail distribution for that deal.

SpaceX debuted at a valuation of more than $2 trillion. That listing was described as the world’s largest IPO to date.

Big stock listings tend to be profitable for Wall Street banks. They generate large fees and can lead to years of future business with the companies involved.

OpenAI has not yet responded to a request for comment on the loan. News of the credit line was first reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday.

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