OpenAI is reportedly raising up to $30 billion in a funding round that values the company at $1.25 trillion, according to CNBC's report. It cites unnamed people familiar with the matter. We found no OpenAI announcement of the round, so treat every figure here as reported, not confirmed.

What is reported

  • Size and valuation: up to $30B, at a $1.25T valuation before the new money (pre-money).
  • Who leads: investors from the United Arab Emirates, alongside Coatue.
  • Purpose: described as an "opportunistic" bridge ahead of a potential IPO.
  • Timing: talks began after investors approached OpenAI in September. OpenAI told investors Thursday it aims to collect signatures by the end of next week.
  • Compute: one person says OpenAI is also negotiating a commercial deal for more computing capacity from the UAE.

Context: compute and the IPO

OpenAI told investors in February it targets about $600B in total compute spending by 2030. Against that, a round of up to $30B is roughly one-twentieth.

The report adds that OpenAI confidentially filed its prospectus with the SEC in June and has not said when it might debut. In August, CFO Sarah Friar told staff it "will be a public company in 2027"; Sam Altman later said going public now would be "ill-advised."

Per the same report, Anthropic closed $65B at a $965B valuation in May and has also filed confidentially for an IPO. For related regulatory scrutiny of both labs, see our story on the FTC subpoenas to OpenAI and Anthropic.

What is not known

  • The final size of the round, which is still being set.
  • Whether signatures arrive by the stated target.
  • Which UAE investors lead, and their stakes.
  • Whether the UAE computing deal is agreed.
  • When an IPO would happen.

Why it matters

If the $1.25T figure excludes new money, the full amount would put the post-money value near $1.28T. The round would cover only a slice of that compute target, and the report does not say how the rest would be funded. More on OpenAI and the AI labs is on our AI & Apps page. A UAE compute deal, if it happens, would tie funding to capacity.