OpenAI is close to finalising a new private funding round of up to $30 billion — yaani, about 3,000 crore dollars — at a pre-money valuation of about $1.25 trillion, yaani about 1.25 lakh crore dollars, in a round led by the investment firm Coatue and investors from the United Arab Emirates, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the talks. OpenAI declined to comment, and the reports stress that terms are still being negotiated and could change.

Source: CNBC, via Today News Brief

The fundraising is described as an opportunistic bridge ahead of a planned initial public offering. OpenAI confidentially filed IPO paperwork in June, and its chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, has said the company is likely to be publicly traded by 2027, according to The Decoder's account of the talks, which also cited Financial Times reporting on the company's internal pitch documents.

Source: The Decoder (CNBC and Financial Times)

$30BSize of the private round OpenAI is reportedly close to closing
$1.25TReported pre-money valuation — down from an earlier $1.4T pitch
$852BOpenAI's post-money valuation in its last round, in March
$65BRival Anthropic's May raise, at a $965B valuation

Valuation trimmed as some investors push back

The $1.25 trillion figure is lower than the $1.4 trillion valuation OpenAI originally pitched to investors, according to internal documents obtained by the Financial Times and reported by The Decoder. The FT said demand was weaker than in previous rounds, with some backers experiencing what it called indigestion after heavy investments in earlier fundraises — a sign, the reports say, of growing caution about the cost of the AI boom.

The UAE piece is not only about money. CNBC reported the Gulf investment could be tied to a separate commercial arrangement giving OpenAI access to more computing capacity from the UAE, a detail that matters because so much of the company's spending goes to chips and data centres.

A valuation above $1 trillion would make OpenAI the most valuable private company on record, the reports say, and would set a very high bar for its eventual stock-market debut. Its last round, in March, valued the company at $852 billion after the investment. The news also lands next to rival Anthropic, which raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May and is reported to be aiming for $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion when it goes public.

Reported, not final

Every figure in this story — the $30 billion size, the $1.25 trillion valuation and the UAE compute arrangement — comes from people familiar with private talks, reported by CNBC and the Financial Times. OpenAI has not confirmed any of it, and the terms could still change before signing.

What is solid

  • CNBC reported Thursday that OpenAI is close to a round of up to $30 billion at about a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, led by Coatue and UAE investors, citing people familiar with the talks (via Today News Brief and The AI Insider).
  • OpenAI declined to comment, and the reports say terms are still being negotiated and could change.
  • OpenAI confidentially filed IPO paperwork in June, and its previous round in March valued it at $852 billion post-money (CNBC, via Today News Brief).

What is only claimed

  • The final size and valuation of the round — an earlier pitch was $1.4 trillion, and the Financial Times reported weaker demand and investor pushback (via The Decoder).
  • Whether a UAE compute-capacity arrangement will form part of the deal — reported as under negotiation, not agreed.