OpenAI reportedly working on $30B raise at $1.25T valuation before IPO

OpenAI is reportedly close to another large private funding round rather than moving ahead with an IPO. The AI lab is working on raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, in a round led by Coatue with investors from the UAE, CNBC reports. A Bloomberg report a month earlier put the figure at $1.4 trillion, and both outlets say the terms are still being negotiated.

CNBC also reports that the UAE funding could be paired with a deal for more computing capacity for OpenAI from the UAE. OpenAI declined to comment. OpenAI filed confidential IPO paperwork in June, after a March raise valued it at $852 billion post-money.

The figures also bear on Anthropic, whose IPO many expect to come sooner. CNBC reports Anthropic is seeking a $1.5 to $2 trillion valuation for its public debut, after raising $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May.

For developers building on OpenAI's models, the reported round signals a company well funded ahead of a public listing, though the terms are not final. Teams that depend on OpenAI or Anthropic pricing and capacity should watch whether the UAE compute deal materializes and how the IPO filings disclose the business.