OpenAI Seeks $30 Billion Raise at $1.4 Trillion Valuation Target

The Deal Details

Bloomberg reported on September 29 that OpenAI is talking to investors about a new funding round targeting at least $30 billion, at a pre-money valuation of about $1.4 trillion. Talks are still early and terms could change, the report said.

The valuation is climbing fast. In the March round, OpenAI secured $122 billion in committed capital at a post-money valuation of $852 billion, led by Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank, when the company said monthly revenue was $2 billion. At $1.4 trillion, that’s roughly 64% higher in six months. Two weeks ago, Fortune was still reporting $1.2 trillion.

IPO Pushed to 2027

The round is seen as an IPO alternative. OpenAI has confidentially filed listing paperwork, but CEO Sam Altman said this month there will be no IPO in 2026. He told Fortune that given AI safety, “now is an unwise time to go public,” adding: “Not in 2026 — we have a lot to do.”

This isn’t the first time OpenAI has hit the brakes over safety. In late September, the company halted the planned October release of GPT-6.1 Astra after internal testing found the model fell short on “holding authorization boundaries” and “truthfully reporting what it did.” In recent weeks, Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have both publicly called for slowing down frontier AI development. Viewed in that context, delaying the IPO makes sense: going public means quarterly earnings pressure, while safety remediation needs time.

Revenue Up, Burn Faster

Revenue growth underpins the rising valuation. Bloomberg reports OpenAI’s annualized revenue grew 70% since July, reaching $40 billion in August. Axios is more aggressive: annualized revenue is already near $70 billion. The company has also been expanding its product line in recent months, launching the always-on AI agent Dots and a $500-per-month subscription tier.

But the spending is equally staggering. The Financial Times cites internal projections that OpenAI’s cumulative negative free cash flow from 2026 to 2030 will reach $278 billion, mostly toward data center expansion. Burning cash this fast is the direct reason it needs round after round of funding.

The Competitive Landscape

Rivals aren’t standing still. Anthropic’s IPO prospectus shows the company plans to list after the November US midterms, targeting a valuation above $2 trillion. Its May private valuation was $965 billion. The prospectus also disclosed Anthropic’s 2025 operating loss exceeded $8 billion. SpaceX, which listed in June at a $1.77 trillion valuation — a record — is the benchmark Anthropic is aiming to beat.

If OpenAI’s round lands, it becomes the most valuable private AI company again. Details remain thin, though: who leads, how much of the $30 billion is new equity versus secondary — Bloomberg’s report didn’t cover any of it. OpenAI declined to comment.