OpenAI Seeks $30 Billion in Funding at $1.4 Trillion Valuation After Delaying IPO
Key Takeaways
- •OpenAI is seeking at least $30 billion in new funding at a valuation of around $1.4 trillion, excluding the fresh capital, which would mark an increase of more than 60% from the $852 billion post-money valuation of its March raise.
- •CEO Sam Altman said OpenAI would not go public this year, citing heightened AI safety concerns and the challenges of adapting to increasingly capable systems.
- •OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate exceeded $40 billion over the summer and has reportedly increased 70% since July, according to Bloomberg.
- •The company recently unveiled Dots, an always-on AI agent, and introduced a $500 subscription tier as part of its commercial expansion.
- •Rival Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI researchers and valued at potentially more than $2 trillion, is expected to go public in November with plans to spend $518 billion on cloud computing and infrastructure.
OpenAI is seeking at least $30 billion in fresh funding at a valuation of around $1.4 trillion, excluding the new capital, after postponing its initial public offering, Bloomberg reported, in coverage published by CoinDesk.
The proposed fundraising would provide the ChatGPT developer with additional capital ahead of an eventual listing, underscoring how the company continues to finance its growth through private markets even as its public debut stays on hold.
OpenAI raised $122 billion in March at a valuation of $852 billion, including that investment. The new target would represent a step-up of more than 60% from that post-money figure. The San Francisco-based company is one of the most prominent companies to emerge from the generative AI boom that followed ChatGPT's launch in late 2022, and Microsoft counts among its largest backers.
CEO Sam Altman said OpenAI would not go public this year, citing heightened artificial intelligence safety concerns and the challenges of adapting to increasingly capable systems.
The IPO delay comes despite accelerating revenue. OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate exceeded $40 billion over the summer and has reportedly increased 70% since July, according to Bloomberg. A revenue run rate projects a full year of sales from recent monthly performance.
The company is also expanding its commercial offerings. It recently unveiled Dots, an always-on AI agent, and introduced a $500 subscription tier.
Rival AI company Anthropic is expected to go public in November. The company's IPO prospectus outlines plans to spend $518 billion on cloud computing and infrastructure, and the potential listing could value Anthropic at more than $2 trillion. Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI assistant, was founded by former OpenAI researchers. Taken together, the fundraising targets and infrastructure spending plans highlight the scale of capital now required to compete in frontier AI development, and Anthropic's expected November listing would give public investors a direct comparison point for how leading AI companies are valued ahead of OpenAI's own eventual debut.
