OpenAI nears $30 billion funding round at $1.25 trillion valuation

OpenAI is working on a new funding round of up to $30 billion that would value the company at $1.25 trillion before the new money is added, according to people familiar with the talks who spoke to CNBC. The round is reportedly being led by Coatue Management along with investors in the United Arab Emirates. OpenAI declined to comment.

Terms are still being negotiated, both CNBC and Bloomberg report, and could change before any deal closes. A month earlier, Bloomberg had reported OpenAI was pursuing the same $30 billion raise, but at a higher valuation of $1.4 trillion. A pre-money valuation is the value assigned to a company before new investment is counted, so the drop suggests the final terms are still moving.

CNBC reports that the UAE portion of the round could be paired with a separate arrangement giving OpenAI access to more computing capacity in the UAE. Computing capacity, often shortened to compute, is the processing power needed to train and run AI systems. Securing more of it has become a central concern for AI labs trying to keep up with demand for their models.

If the round closes above a $1 trillion valuation, OpenAI would become the most valuable private company on record. That would also raise the bar for OpenAI’s planned initial public offering, or IPO, the process of a private company selling shares to the public for the first time. OpenAI filed confidential paperwork for an IPO in June. Its prior raise, completed in March, valued the company at $852 billion post-money, meaning after the new investment was added.

A higher bar for Anthropic too

The size of OpenAI’s new valuation could affect rival Anthropic’s own path to the public markets. Anthropic is widely believed to be closer to filing the public paperwork required for an IPO, known as an S-1, and some reports suggest that filing could arrive soon. CNBC reports Anthropic is seeking a valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion for its stock market debut.

Anthropic raised $65 billion in May at a $965 billion valuation, a round many in the industry expected to be its last before going public. Anthropic also filed confidential IPO paperwork in June, the same month as OpenAI.

Neither company has set a date for its public debut, and neither has confirmed the exact terms reported for its next valuation. What happens next depends on whether OpenAI’s investors agree to the $1.25 trillion figure, and on whether Anthropic’s board moves ahead with the S-1 filing many expect. Both decisions are still pending, and both will shape how each company is priced once its shares reach public markets.