OpenAI is working to finalize a funding round of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation — a price set before any new capital is counted, according to people familiar with the deal cited by CNBC.

Investors from the United Arab Emirates are leading the syndicate alongside Coatue, and the company told investors on Thursday that it aims to secure signatures by the end of next week, though the final size of the round is still being determined.

That positioning is surprising on its own: CNBC notes the company confidentially filed its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June yet has not disclosed when it plans to debut.

The round's speed also stands out — Briefs Finance highlights that investors initiated the discussions, and the company is pushing to lock commitments within roughly a week, a compressed timeline for a financing of this scale.

The financing comes tied to a deeper commercial relationship with the Gulf. CNBC reports that alongside the new investment, OpenAI is negotiating a commercial deal that would secure more computing capacity from the UAE, according to one person familiar with the matter.

The scale of the capital need is also laid out in the numbers: CNBC reports the company told investors in February that it is targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030.

Briefs Finance similarly frames the round as part of two AI leaders signaling huge capital needs for compute and growth, with sovereign-linked investors becoming central to financing that buildout.

The IPO path carries mixed internal signals that investors are clearly weighing.

CNBC reports that CFO Sarah Friar told employees in August that the AI lab "will be a public company in 2027," while in the following month CEO Sam Altman said that "right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public."

Briefs Finance points out that the company has not said when it intends to list despite the June confidential SEC filing. Those competing statements leave the timing open even as the company positions this funding as a stepping stone toward the public markets.

The competitive backdrop sharpens the story.

CNBC reports that OpenAI's chief rival Anthropic is also gearing up for what is widely expected to be a massive IPO: it confidentially filed its prospectus in June, is actively engaging in meetings with prospective investors, and is reportedly seeking a valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in its offering.

Anthropic closed a $65 billion funding round at a $965 billion valuation in May, a figure both CNBC and Briefs Finance cite.

The immediate marker is the signature target: OpenAI told investors on Thursday it is aiming to secure signatures by the end of next week, with the final check size still in flux.

If the round closes as described, the $30 billion infusion would land on top of a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation and ahead of a confidentially filed IPO whose date remains unset.