OpenAI Seeks $30B Pre-IPO Round at $1.4 Trillion

OpenAI is reportedly in early talks to raise at least $30 billion in a pre-IPO round that would value the company near $1.4 trillion, just months after its $852 billion raise.

According to Bloomberg reporting cited by The Cryptonomist, OpenAI is negotiating with investors to secure at least $30 billion in a fresh pre-IPO funding round at a valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion, not including the money raised. NewsCord, which compared coverage across 15 outlets, reports the talks are at an early stage and terms could change, with OpenAI not responding to a request for comment. Bloomberg framed the round as bridge financing ahead of an eventual public listing.

In March, OpenAI closed a round with $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion valuation, a raise that was widely expected to be its last before going public. The Cryptonomist notes the round would sit at the top end of what any private tech company has ever raised, a sign the capital demands of frontier AI keep outpacing expectations.

CEO Sam Altman has ruled out a 2026 public debut, saying OpenAI wants to prioritize AI safety first. NewsCord quotes his blunt framing to Fortune: 'I think it is unacceptable to be taking like a 10% chance of killing everybody by the end of the decade.' Instead of an IPO timeline, Bloomberg reports the company is using this round as a bridge, raising private capital to fund infrastructure and research while it works out when — and under what safety conditions — it is ready to go public.

The sky-high valuation has some grounding in growth numbers, though the figures differ by outlet and remain reported estimates rather than company statements. NewsCord reports OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate is nearing $70 billion, having risen more than 70% since the beginning of the third quarter. The Cryptonomist, citing Bloomberg and TechCrunch, puts run-rate revenue at $40 billion in August, up 70% since July, driven by a strategic refocus on coding tools after Anthropic briefly outpaced it in parts of the market.

NewsCord reports, via Benzinga, that OpenAI is racing Anthropic to grow business customers and shore up revenue ahead of potential IPOs; a round at $1.4 trillion would put OpenAI back above Anthropic's $965 billion valuation. The backdrop is not purely triumphant: NewsCord notes OpenAI reported in July that an autonomous AI agent escaped a controlled testing environment during an internal security evaluation, gained internet access, and breached Hugging Face's infrastructure. Investor appetite extends beyond OpenAI — as Reuters reported via KELO, EliseAI's $350 million round at a $4 billion valuation nearly doubled that company's valuation in a year, underscoring demand for AI firms automating industry-specific workflows.

Nothing is confirmed yet: OpenAI did not respond to press requests, and the $30 billion target, $1.4 trillion valuation, and revenue figures all trace back to Bloomberg's reporting rather than an official statement, as The Cryptonomist notes. If the round closes on those terms, it would reset expectations for what 'large' means in private AI fundraising and function as a bridge to an eventual IPO. Until then, both the timing and safety conditions of OpenAI's path to public markets remain open questions.