OpenAI is raising funds ahead of its IPO—the creator of ChatGPT—is in talks with investors to raise at least $30 billion at a valuation of approximately $1.4 trillion, Bloomberg reported yesterday. According to Bloomberg, this new capital raise, if it materializes, would serve as an interim funding round ahead of an IPO.
Investors appear keen to inject more capital into Sam Altman’s AI startup before its stock market debut next year.
It is also worth noting that while Anthropic appeared to have pulled ahead of OpenAI, a strategic refocus on key areas like coding has driven a 70% increase in OpenAI’s annualized revenue since July, reaching $40 billion in August, according to Bloomberg.
OpenAI previously raised $122 billion in March at a valuation of $852 billion. That round was intended to be its final private fundraising effort before an IPO—which, until recently, was slated for this year.
However, the startup’s CEO, Sam Altman, has ruled out a 2026 IPO in order to prioritize AI safety. “I find it unacceptable to run a risk—say, 10%—of killing everyone by the end of the decade,” Altman recently remarked, as quoted by *Fortune* magazine. Altman stated that the company wants to navigate this period of heightened concern regarding AI safety without the pressures of being a newly public company, and he believes investors will be “patient” regarding the IPO timeline, Bloomberg adds.