OpenAI seeks $30B at $1.4T valuation as IPO waits
What's the deal? OpenAI is reportedly seeking at least $30 billion in new funding at a roughly $1.4 trillion pre-money valuation, according to Bloomberg. Talks are early, terms could change, and demand for the round is led by investors, Reuters reported. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
How big is this? Among all-time late-stage venture rounds in US enterprise software, US$19.4B raise sits in the 99th percentile — near the top of more than 1,250 comparable deals.
Why now? The new round would be bridge financing that provides capital in place of an IPO. OpenAI has confidentially filed for a US listing, but chief executive officer Sam Altman says it will not happen in 2026.
The revenue case: OpenAI's annualised revenue run rate is nearing $70 billion, up more than 70% since the start of the third quarter, Axios reported and Reuters confirmed. Enterprise sales more than doubled over the same period. By TFN's calculation, US$905.9B pre-money valuation is about 20 times that run rate.
The valuation has climbed fast. In September, investors approached OpenAI about a round valuing it above $1.2 trillion. US$905.9B mark would be about 17% higher, and 64% above the $852 billion post-money valuation it set in March.
What came before? OpenAI closed $122 billion in committed capital at that $852 billion valuation on March 31, then the largest private financing round in Silicon Valley history. SoftBankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → co-led alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, MGXDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, TPG, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price AssociatesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia also involved.
What could go wrong? Some backing comes with strings. Amazon agreed to invest $50 billion, of which $35 billion depends on OpenAI going public or reaching an artificial general intelligence milestone — a contingency that now sits beside a listing Altman rules out for 2026.
The benchmark: Rival Anthropic raised $65 billion at US$624.4B valuation in May and confidentially filed for an IPO on June 1. Its prospectus shows US$27.2B net loss in 2025 on revenue of nearly $4.6 billion, Reuters reported, with a debut likely after the November US midterms at a target above $2 trillion.
The signal: OpenAI's investors are being asked to pay $1.4 trillion privately while Anthropic tests public appetite first. As PitchBook analyst Harrison Rolfes put it, OpenAI "now has a free option to watch how institutional investors react to audited frontier AI financials before committing to its own price." A private round keeps that option open.
Read more: Tech Funding News
Image credit: OpenAI
