OpenAI Reportedly Nears Up to $30 Billion Round at $1.25 Trillion Valuation
CNBC, citing people familiar with the deal, says UAE investors and Coatue are involved; terms are still being negotiated.
Photo: Steve Jurvetson / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
OpenAI is reportedly close to raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, according to CNBC, which cited people familiar with the matter. TechCrunch relayed the report on October 22. OpenAI declined to comment, and the details have not been confirmed by the company.
What is reported
- Coatue is said to be leading the round, with investors from the United Arab Emirates also taking part, according to CNBC's sources.
- The final size and terms are still being negotiated and could change.
- CNBC reported that the UAE funding could be paired with a commercial deal giving OpenAI more computing capacity from the country.
- The round would come ahead of a potential public offering rather than in place of one, the report said.
How it compares
A Bloomberg report about a month earlier said OpenAI was raising $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation, so the reported figure is lower than that earlier number. OpenAI's most recent raise, in March, valued it at $852 billion post-money. TechCrunch noted that a valuation above $1 trillion would make OpenAI the most valuable private company ever.
IPO backdrop
OpenAI filed confidential IPO paperwork in June and has not said when it might list. TechCrunch also noted that rival Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May and filed confidentially in June. CNBC has reported that Anthropic is seeking a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion for its own listing.
The reporting rests on anonymous sources, so the numbers could shift before any deal is announced.
