A big week for OpenAI is a big week for AI.

And this week saw the Sam Altman-led company unveil its long-awaited GPT-5 , along with a sweeping U.S. government partnership . There’s also a key number now in the mix: $500 billion, the reported new valuation OpenAI is set to hit amid a share sale .

That half-a-trillion number—up from $300 billion—is stunning on many levels. I’ll spare you the obligatory market cap comparisons (“that’s the equivalent of 10 Ford Motor companies!”). Wild though the prospective valuation may seem, it also poses important questions about where we are in the cycle of this AI boom. Venture funding, overall, isn’t booming as much as you’d expect. According to new Crunchbase data, global venture funding hit $29.7 billion in July, down from $43 billion in Jun

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