OpenAI is reportedly pursuing another large private funding round, with up to $30 billion on the table and a proposed pre-money valuation of $1.25 trillion. The reported plan comes as the company has confidentially filed IPO paperwork, setting up a major question for investors: how would another private valuation shape expectations for a public offering?
A proposed round with terms still in motion
CNBC reports that Coatue and investors in UAE are leading the potential raise. The amount and valuation are not final: the terms remain under negotiation, according to CNBC and Bloomberg, and could change before any deal is completed.
The possibility of additional funding from UAE investors may be linked to computing capacity as well. CNBC reports that the investment could be paired with a deal to secure more computing capacity for OpenAI from the UAE. OpenAI declined to comment.
That combination would connect financing with a key operational resource. The report does not describe the proposed capacity deal in detail, but it indicates that the funding discussions may involve more than the valuation and size of the round.
How the reported valuation compares
Bloomberg reported a month ago that OpenAI was working on a $30 billion raise at a $1.4 trillion valuation. The newer report puts the proposed pre-money valuation at $1.25 trillion. Because the terms are still being negotiated, the difference does not establish what the final valuation will be.
OpenAI’s last raise, in March, valued the ChatGPT maker at $852 billion post-money. The reported new valuation would therefore represent a substantially higher mark, if the round closes on those terms. A pre-money valuation is set before new investment is added; a post-money valuation includes it, so the two figures describe different points in a financing.
If the new round values OpenAI above $1 trillion, the company would become the most valued private company ever, according to the source report. That distinction would give the financing broad significance beyond the investors participating in it.
A higher benchmark ahead of an IPO
OpenAI filed confidential paperwork for an IPO in June. A private round at the proposed level would put a striking benchmark in place before the company reaches public markets, and could raise expectations for what investors might consider an appropriate IPO valuation.
Private financing and a public offering are different events, and the report does not say that an IPO is imminent or that the proposed valuation will carry over to one. Still, a higher private mark could make the eventual public-market discussion more demanding: investors would have to weigh the company against a valuation already set at an unprecedented level for a private firm.
Implications for Anthropic
OpenAI’s reported plans may also affect the backdrop for Anthropic’s potential IPO. Many believe Anthropic’s public offering is closer to materializing, and the latest reports have the company seeking a $1.5 to $2 trillion valuation for its debut, CNBC reports. Rumors suggest its public S-1 filing could come soon, though the source does not establish a filing date.
Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May, in what many believed at the time would be its last big round before an IPO. It also filed confidential paperwork in June. With both companies linked to prospective public listings and exceptionally large valuations, OpenAI’s next financing could become a reference point for how investors assess the sector’s largest private companies.
For now, both the proposed OpenAI round and its terms remain unsettled. The reported figures sketch the scale of the negotiations, while leaving the final financing and the timing and valuation of any IPO unresolved.