OpenAI Nears $30B Raise at $1.25T Valuation Ahead of IPO
OpenAI is reportedly raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, led by Coatue and UAE investors, as a bridge to a possible 2027 IPO.
OpenAI is closing in on one of the largest private funding rounds in history. The ChatGPT maker is working on raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, according to CNBC reporting picked up by TechCrunch, Dealroom and others. If the deal closes on these terms, OpenAI would become the most valuable private company ever - and set a very high bar for its own IPO.
The deal on the table
OpenAI wants to raise up to $30 billion in a late-stage private round at a $1.25 trillion valuation, counted before the new money comes in. The round is led by Coatue and investors from the United Arab Emirates, sources told CNBC. OpenAI told prospective backers it wants commitments signed by the end of next week, but the final size of the round is still being worked out and terms could change. The raise is being pitched as an "opportunistic" bridge to a possible initial public offering. OpenAI filed confidential IPO paperwork in June, and CFO Sarah Friar has told staff a listing would likely arrive in 2027. OpenAI declined to comment on the reports.
A markdown from the $1.4 trillion pitch
The valuation being discussed has already slipped. About a month ago, Bloomberg reported OpenAI was working on the same $30 billion raise at a $1.4 trillion valuation. Earlier in October, the company pitched a fixed $1.4 trillion pre-money price to backers including BlackRock and UAE fund MGX. The current $1.25 trillion figure is roughly $150 billion lower - a sign that the final structure is still being negotiated and the company is adjusting its ask to get the round done.
The UAE compute side deal
The money is only half the story. Alongside the equity raise, OpenAI is negotiating a separate commercial deal to lock in more computing capacity from the UAE. The company has told investors it plans to spend $600 billion on compute by 2030, which explains why fundraising and capacity deals are moving together. For OpenAI, capital and infrastructure are now being negotiated as one package - cash to fund the build-out, and the chips and data centers to run it.
What this means for the IPO race
OpenAI's last raise, in March, valued the company at $852 billion after the money was raised. The new round would be a big step up. If it closes above $1 trillion, OpenAI breaks the record for the highest valuation of any private company. Rival Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May, also filed confidential IPO paperwork in June, and is reportedly seeking $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in its public debut, with a public filing rumored to be imminent. A $1.25 trillion private mark for OpenAI makes that target more defensible for Anthropic - and raises investor expectations for what OpenAI's own IPO must eventually deliver.
Why this matters
This round is about more than a record number. It shows how the AI race is now fought on two fronts at once: raising enormous amounts of money, and locking in the computing power to spend it on. OpenAI is choosing another huge private round over going public now, buying time to scale the hardware behind its models. For the rest of the market, the $1.25 trillion figure becomes the freshest data point every investor will judge AI valuations against.
Sources
- TechCrunch - https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/openai-working-on-new-30b-raise-at-1-25t-valuation-ahead-of-ipo/ - Finimize - https://finimize.com/content/openai-lines-up-a-30-billion-bridge-round - Dealroom - https://dealroom.co/news/165343-openai-nears-30b-round-at-1-25t-valuation-led-by-coatue-and-uae-investor/