OpenAI said to near $30B round at $1.25T valuation

By VK

Published 26 Oct 2026, 12:21 UTC

Reporting from TechCrunch

CNBC reports OpenAI is nearing a raise of up to $30 billion at $1.25 trillion before new cash, with Coatue and UAE investors leading.

What it means for founders

Watch for signatures by the end of this week. That is the window OpenAI reportedly gave investors. A close near $1.25 trillion could become the reference point for Anthropic's IPO and other late stage AI rounds. A smaller or slower close could suggest investor appetite is thinning.
The largest checks are concentrating. Pre-IPO money is pooling in a few AI companies: this reported round follows Anthropic's $65 billion in May, and infrastructure players such as Lambda are raising ahead of IPOs too. Founders pitching those investors may face more competition for attention and closer questions on revenue.
Compute is being bought with capital. If OpenAI secures more UAE capacity, API customers could eventually see fewer capacity limits, but no pricing or availability changes have been announced. Keep a second model provider tested either way.
Expect pressure to grow revenue. A lab heading to market at this price will likely need to grow into it, which can mean entering new product categories. Know where your product overlaps with OpenAI's.

The story

OpenAI may take one more large private check before it lists. People familiar with the deal told CNBC on Thursday, October 22, that the company was nearly done raising as much as $30 billion on a $1.25 trillion valuation that excludes the new cash. Coatue and a group of UAE investors lead, they said, and the raise is framed as a stopgap before any listing. Nothing had been signed by then. OpenAI declined to comment to TechCrunch, which noted the terms could still change.

What the reported deal includes

The same people described a short timetable: OpenAI wants signatures by the end of the week of October 26, and the size is still open. One of them said a commercial deal for more UAE computing capacity is being negotiated alongside the investment. That matters because OpenAI has told investors it expects to spend roughly $600 billion on compute by 2030, so a backer that can also supply capacity could cover both needs.

By TechCrunch's count, any price over $1 trillion would be a record for a private company.

How the price has moved

These talks grew out of investor approaches in September, when CNBC reported that $1.2 trillion had been floated. On Tuesday, September 29, Bloomberg put the goal at $30 billion or more at around $1.4 trillion, also before new money. The latest reported price sits about $150 billion under that, yet far above the $852 billion OpenAI was valued at when it raised $122 billion in March.

The IPO race with Anthropic

OpenAI's timing is unsettled. It filed confidentially with the SEC in June, and CNBC has reported mixed signals since: finance chief Sarah Friar told staff in August to expect a 2027 listing, while Sam Altman told Fortune in September that listing now would be "ill-advised."

A richer OpenAI price could shape Anthropic's offering, TechCrunch suggested. Anthropic also filed confidentially in June, after a $65 billion May round that valued it at $965 billion, and CNBC, citing other reporting, says it wants $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion when it lists. Anthropic's prospectus lays out its revenue growth and losses.

What we don't know yet

Whether the round closes at $1.25 trillion, and how much of the $30 billion is actually raised.
Which UAE investors are involved and how the lead is split with Coatue.
What the compute agreement covers, and whether it depends on the investment.