OpenAI Eyes $30B Raise at $1.25T Valuation
Original: OpenAI working on new $30B raise at $1.25T valuation ahead of IPO
Why This Matters
Back-to-back trillion-dollar private AI valuations signal historic capital concentration in the sector.
OpenAI is negotiating a $30B private round led by Coatue and UAE investors at a $1.25T pre-money valuation, per CNBC sources. The deal may include UAE computing capacity. Terms remain in flux.
OpenAI is reportedly pursuing yet another massive private funding round rather than rushing to IPO. Sources told CNBC the company is working on raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, with Coatue leading and investors from the UAE participating. The UAE investment may also come bundled with a deal to expand OpenAI's computing capacity in the region.
OpenAI declined to comment. Terms are still being negotiated and could shift. Bloomberg reported a similar round a month earlier, though at a higher $1.4 trillion valuation—the gap between the two reports suggests the discussions are active but unsettled.
If the round closes above $1 trillion, OpenAI would become the most valuable private company on record. The company filed confidential IPO paperwork in June, following a March raise that valued it at $852 billion post-money. Rival Anthropic—which raised $65B at a $965B valuation in May and also filed confidential IPO paperwork in June—is reportedly targeting a $1.5–$2 trillion valuation for its own public debut, with an S-1 potentially imminent.