OpenAI Reportedly Working on $30B Raise at $1.25T Pre-Money Valuation

The reported round

OpenAI is reportedly close to securing another mega round of private funding, working on raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation in a round led by Coatue and investors in the UAE, sources told CNBC. Both outlets stress the terms are still being negotiated and could ultimately change. CNBC reports the UAE funding could also be coupled with a deal to secure more computing capacity for OpenAI from the UAE. OpenAI declined to comment.

A potential record

Should OpenAI command a valuation of more than $1 trillion with this round, it would break records as the most valued private company ever, and raise the bar even higher for its forthcoming IPO. Bloomberg reported a month ago that OpenAI was working on a $30 billion raise at a $1.4 trillion valuation — the valuation has since been cut by about $150 billion.

Context

OpenAI's last raise in March valued the ChatGPT maker at $852 billion post-money, and it filed confidential IPO paperwork in June. Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May, also filed confidentially in June, and is rumored to be seeking a $1.5–2 trillion valuation for its public debut.