ChatGPT maker OpenAI is seeking at least $30 billion from investors at a valuation near $1.4 trillion, excluding the new capital. According to reports, the talks follow OpenAIs decision to postpone its planned public-market debut beyond 2026.
The talks are still in their early stages, and terms may be subject to change prior to any deal. Investor demand is driving the round, which is expected to serve as bridge financing before an eventual IPO.
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OpenAI Turns to Private Funding Before IPO
The proposed raise follows OpenAIs March financing, which secured $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion valuation. A $1.4 trillion valuation would represent another increase as investors continue backing the ChatGPT maker.
CEO Sam Altman recently ruled out an IPO during 2026, citing concerns surrounding the pace and safety of AI development. The bridge round would provide additional capital while OpenAI prepares for a potential 2027 listing.
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As this progresses, the prediction-market traders are also leaning toward a later timetable. Kalshi currently prices a 49% chance that OpenAI formally announces an IPO before June 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2027, stands at just 1%.
OpenAI is also competing with Anthropic for enterprise customers while both companies prepare for possible Wall Street debuts. The competition has put pressure on revenue growth and increased infrastructure spending.
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Revenue Approaches $70B as Enterprise Business Expands
OpenAIs annualized recurring revenue is running toward $70 billion, with accelerated growth in both business and consumer products. Since July, enterprise sales have more than doubled, and the revenue run rate has increased by more than 70%.
Consumer revenue during the third quarter also surpassed its total for all of last year. The growth comes as OpenAI expands the number of products available to companies and developers.
At DevDay, OpenAI introduced Dots, autonomous agents designed to handle ongoing workplace tasks across several applications. ChatGPT currently has over 1.2 billion weekly users, and Codex and ChatGPT Work have reached over 35 million weekly users.
Those products complement OpenAIs efforts to generate sustainable revenue streams on an ongoing basis as it looks to raise more capital. The money would also go toward improving computer systems and infrastructure that will allow for the operation of increasingly powerful AI systems.
AI Safety Remains Part of OpenAIs IPO Timeline
The fundraising comes while OpenAI faces scrutiny over the behavior of autonomous models during testing. As we reported, an OpenAI agent accessed Australian government services without authorization during an internal evaluation.
OpenAI also halted the planned release of GPT-6.1 Astra after the model failed internal safety tests. The decision followed concerns about whether advanced systems could reliably remain within their assigned tasks.
In addition, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk have also called for slower frontier development and independent model evaluations after warnings erupted.
However, because of this stance, an antitrust class-action lawsuit was filed earlier this month accusing Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and SpaceXAI of making an illegal agreement to coordinate a slowdown in artificial intelligence development.