OpenAI in talks to raise $30B at $1.4T valuation
Original: OpenAI repotedly in talks to raise $30B round at $1.4T valuation
Why This Matters
A $1.4T valuation would make OpenAI one of the most valuable private companies ever, signaling investor appetite for AI shows no sign of cooling.
OpenAI is reportedly in talks to raise at least $30 billion in a pre-IPO round at a roughly $1.4 trillion valuation, according to Bloomberg. The company's run-rate revenue hit $40 billion in August, up 70% since July, after a strategic refocus on areas including coding.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that OpenAI is in advanced discussions with investors to raise at least $30 billion in what would be a bridge round ahead of a future IPO. The implied valuation of approximately $1.4 trillion is a sharp jump from the $852 billion valuation attached to its March funding round — a $122 billion raise that was originally billed as its final private financing before going public.
That IPO timeline has since slipped. CEO Sam Altman ruled out a 2026 public debut, citing AI safety concerns. In a recent Fortune interview, he stated: 'I think it is unacceptable to be taking like a 10% chance of killing everybody by the end of the decade.' The IPO is now expected sometime in 2027.
On the business side, the numbers back the elevated valuation ask. Run-rate revenue reached $40 billion in August, a 70% increase since July, driven in part by a focused push into coding tools. Earlier in the year, Anthropic had briefly narrowed the competitive gap, but OpenAI appears to have pulled ahead again. OpenAI did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.