OpenAI funding round talks are close to wrapping up, with the company seeking as much as $30 billion at a pre-money valuation of $1.25 trillion, people familiar with the discussions told CNBC. Investors from the United Arab Emirates and venture firm Coatue are leading the deal, CNBC reported on Thursday.
That figure excludes the new cash. OpenAI has asked investors to sign by the end of next week, and the eventual size has not been fixed, the people said. OpenAI declined to comment. The company has not confirmed the round.
Why the OpenAI funding round is a bridge
The financing is being described as a bridge ahead of a possible initial public offering, not as a replacement for one. OpenAI confidentially filed a prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June but has not said when it intends to list.
Its public comments point to 2027. Chief financial officer Sarah Friar told employees in August that OpenAI "will be a public company in 2027," according to CNBC. Chief executive Sam Altman said the following month that the current moment would be an ill-advised time to go public. A large private round would give OpenAI room to keep spending without the scrutiny that comes with quarterly reporting.
The structure also matters for the balance sheet. Raising equity before a listing lets existing investors set a price while competition for AI assets is intense. It also creates a reference point that public-market investors will compare with the eventual IPO price.
Capital and computing arrive together
The OpenAI funding round may also come with infrastructure attached. OpenAI is discussing a separate commercial arrangement with UAE partners that could expand its access to computing capacity, one person told CNBC. In February, the company told investors it aimed to spend roughly $600 billion on compute by 2030.
That number explains why OpenAI keeps returning to private markets even as revenue grows. Training and running frontier models require chips, data centers and power, and those commitments are made years before the related products earn money. A sovereign-backed investor can supply capital at a scale that few venture funds can match.
Coatue’s involvement signals that established technology investors still want exposure at the top of the market. The UAE connection adds a geopolitical dimension: a financing package tied to a compute agreement would deepen OpenAI’s ties to Gulf investors.
What the price means for the AI race
For the OpenAI funding round, the headline figure is pre-money, meaning it measures OpenAI before the new cash is added. A post-money valuation includes that cash. On the reported terms, adding the full $30 billion to the $1.25 trillion pre-money figure would imply a post-money value of about $1.28 trillion, a calculation rather than a reported deal term.
OpenAI’s previous round in March raised $122 billion at a post-money valuation of $852 billion, according to The Next Web and TechCrunch. The two measures are not directly comparable: the March figure includes the money raised, while the new figure does not. TechCrunch, citing CNBC, reported that a valuation above $1 trillion would make OpenAI the most valuable private company to date.
The reported terms have moved. The Next Web reported on Oct. 20 that the round could value OpenAI above $1.4 trillion and that SoftBank and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, both existing backers, were in talks to join. CNBC’s Oct. 22 report put the pre-money valuation at $1.25 trillion and named UAE investors and Coatue as leads. The two reports differ on the valuation and the investors involved, and OpenAI has not confirmed either set of terms.
The comparison with Anthropic matters. OpenAI’s rival confidentially filed its own prospectus in June and is reportedly seeking a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in an IPO, according to CNBC. Anthropic’s May round raised $65 billion at a valuation of $965 billion. Anthropic is also pushing into always-on agents with Claude Duet, which launched this week. Both companies are trying to secure capital and computing capacity before public markets set a price.
The first checkpoint is the signature deadline at the end of next week. A completed round would confirm that private investors are willing to underwrite OpenAI at a record valuation even while its leaders signal that an IPO can wait. The second is whether the compute agreement is announced alongside the financing. If it is, the deal will be remembered less for the headline number than for the infrastructure it locks in.
Anthropic’s filing is the other event to track. A public listing by Anthropic would give investors a market-tested valuation for a leading AI lab, and a benchmark for OpenAI’s eventual IPO. For now, OpenAI appears to be choosing private money over public scrutiny, at a valuation that would make it the most valuable private company to date.
Brian Shannon is just getting his start a reporter. He attended a technical school while still in high school where he learned a variety of skills, from photography to car mechanics. Brian also helps keep Techno Secrets social media feeds up-to-date.
