OpenAI Nears a Funding Round of Up to $30 Billion at a $1.25 Trillion Valuation, CNBC Reports

OpenAI is closing in on a funding round of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, people familiar with the deal told CNBC on October 22, 2026. Investors from the United Arab Emirates are leading the round alongside the investment firm Coatue, and the valuation does not include the new money, the people said.

The round would be another private raise for the ChatGPT maker instead of an early move to the stock market, at a time when its rival Anthropic is preparing a public listing. It is also the latest in a run of very large AI funding rounds, and it lands at a lower price than the one OpenAI was discussing only weeks ago.

What is OpenAI raising, and from whom?

OpenAI is raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, with UAE investors and Coatue leading, according to CNBC's sources. A pre-money valuation is the price set on a company before the new cash goes in.

The financing is being positioned as an "opportunistic" bridge ahead of a potential initial public offering, CNBC reported. OpenAI started the talks after investors approached it with proposals in September. The Information reported that the round is set to close soon with UAE investors and Coatue leading the investment.

Alongside the equity, OpenAI is negotiating a commercial deal that would secure more computing capacity from the UAE, one person told CNBC. OpenAI told investors in February that it is targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spending by 2030, according to CNBC.

Why is the valuation lower than the $1.4 trillion discussed earlier?

OpenAI's new $1.25 trillion price is about $150 billion below the $1.4 trillion pre-money figure it presented to prospective backers earlier in October, according to Implicator.ai, and none of the open reports give a reason for the change. Bloomberg reported on October 22 that OpenAI shifted its value to $1.25 trillion as funding talks finalize.

The earlier number had been in circulation for weeks. Bloomberg reported on October 8, 2026 that OpenAI was seeking $30 billion or more at a $1.4 trillion pre-money valuation, the same day OpenAI's annualized revenue was reported at roughly $50 billion, below a widely reported $68 billion figure that counted partners' gross revenue, as covered in the report on OpenAI's $50 billion run rate. Implicator.ai notes that the new price arrives two weeks after that revenue figure, and that investors had floated $1.2 trillion when they first approached OpenAI in September.

Terms are still being negotiated and could change, TechCrunch reported, and OpenAI declined to comment.

How does the price compare with earlier rounds and with Anthropic?

At $1.25 trillion before the new money, OpenAI would be valued well above its last round: in March 2026 it raised $122 billion at an $852 billion post-money valuation, TechCrunch reported. If the full $30 billion comes in, the post-money figure would be about $1.28 trillion, roughly $430 billion above the March mark, Implicator.ai calculates.

A valuation above $1 trillion would make OpenAI the most valuable private company ever, according to TechCrunch. Anthropic closed a $65 billion round at a $965 billion post-money valuation in May, which it announced on May 28, 2026, and is reportedly seeking $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in its IPO (CNBC).

Set against revenue, the new price is about 25 times the roughly $50 billion annualized run rate OpenAI gave investors for the end of September, which CNBC confirmed on October 8, by this site's arithmetic. The figure of $1.4 trillion would have been 28 times the same run rate.

When does OpenAI plan to go public?

OpenAI has not set a date: it confidentially filed its prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2026 and has not disclosed when it plans to debut, CNBC reported. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told employees in August that OpenAI "will be a public company in 2027," and Chief Executive Sam Altman said in September that "right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public," according to CNBC.

The timing of the private round matters because of Anthropic. Anthropic also filed confidentially in June and is meeting prospective investors, CNBC reported, and its listing is expected in mid-November, according to Implicator.ai. Both companies are courting the same small group of sovereign wealth funds and long only funds that can write checks this large, Implicator.ai reported, and OpenAI wants signatures on its round by the end of the week of October 26, 2026, according to CNBC.

What we don't know yet

• The final size of the round, which CNBC reports is still being determined.
• Which UAE investors are leading, and how much each investor puts in.
• Why the price moved from $1.4 trillion to $1.25 trillion.
• The terms of the separate computing capacity deal with the UAE.
• Whether signatures arrive by the end of the week of October 26, 2026.