Bank of America grants OpenAI a $520 million credit line after an initial rejection

Bank of America provided OpenAI with a $520 million credit line in late June to early July 2026—despite the bank rejecting a similar request from the company just months earlier. Bloomberg reports this, citing people familiar with the deal details.

Why BofA's reversal is so significant

Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States with assets exceeding $3 trillion. Unlike JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, which previously participated in financing syndicates for AI companies, BofA had until recently kept its distance from direct lending to OpenAI.

The shift in position occurred without a public statement—Bloomberg describes what happened as a "U-turn." The specific reason for the review is not disclosed in the report; the exact terms of the credit line—interest rate, duration, collateral—are also not published.

The type of instrument is crucial: a credit line is not a one-time loan but a revolving credit facility. The borrower company can draw funds within the limit, repay them, and redeploy them as needed. This provides flexibility for managing operational liquidity without adhering to a rigid repayment schedule.

Why OpenAI needs $520 million from the bank

OpenAI is one of the most capital-intensive companies in the history of the private technology market. Spending on computational infrastructure, personnel, and R&D is estimated at tens of billions of dollars annually. In May 2025, the company closed a record-breaking funding round of $40 billion at a valuation exceeding $300 billion.

Despite the enormous volume of equity capital raised, credit lines remain a necessary tool: they allow the company to maintain operational liquidity without diluting equity stakes and provide flexibility during short-term spikes in resource consumption.

Key deal parameters:

• Credit line size—$520 million
• Lending bank—Bank of America
• Instrument—revolving credit facility
• BofA previously rejected a similar request from OpenAI
• Deal closed in late June to early July 2026

What this says about market confidence in OpenAI

A credit line from a traditional commercial bank sends a fundamentally different signal than venture capital investment. A venture fund bets on valuation growth; a bank assesses creditworthiness: cash flow sustainability, debt servicing capacity, adequacy of collateral. The fact that BofA approved the deal after initially rejecting it indicates a reassessment of OpenAI's risk profile as a borrower.

Major American banks, which for a long time observed the AI boom from the sidelines, are now consistently positioning themselves as lenders to leading AI laboratories. For OpenAI, access to debt financing from institutional players is a sign of maturity in the company's financial profile.

What this means

Bank of America's reversal is both a symbolic and practical market signal. The traditional banking sector increasingly views OpenAI not as a risky startup but as a systemically important technology company with access to standard debt market instruments. The $520 million credit line from BofA is another marker of this shift.