MUMBAI: OpenAI may be preparing to open its funding tap again, and this time the numbers could be measured in trillions. The ChatGPT maker is considering a new funding round that could value the company at more than $1.2 trillion, Bloomberg has reported, just months after it secured $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion valuation.
The discussions are still at an early stage and were initiated by investors rather than OpenAI, according to the report. The proposed valuation is also not set in stone and could change as negotiations develop.
For OpenAI, another sizeable cash injection would mean more than a bigger valuation headline. It could give the company additional firepower for acquisitions, an area where it has already been spending billions.
Recent deals include the acquisition of io, the AI device startup founded by former Apple executive Jony Ive, and Astral, which develops Python tools for software developers. Fresh capital could give OpenAI greater room to pursue more such deals while continuing to build out its AI operations.
It could also buy the company something increasingly valuable in the private markets: time.
OpenAI’s long-anticipated IPO remains in the works, but the company is not expected to go public this year. CEO Sam Altman told Fortune that preparations for a listing are continuing, while earlier comments from Altman indicated that OpenAI would not pursue an IPO in 2026.
Reporting on the latest funding discussions suggests another round could potentially allow OpenAI to push the listing back by another one or two quarters. The company is also considering what information it can legally disclose to private-market investors as it moves closer to eventually becoming a public company.
The timing puts OpenAI alongside another major AI player heading towards the public markets. Anthropic, the company behind Claude, has selected Nasdaq as its listing venue and could begin marketing its offering as early as mid-October.
Anthropic raised funds in May at a $965 billion valuation, including its latest investment, bringing another eye-catching figure to an AI funding race increasingly moving towards the trillion-dollar mark.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic have also been advocating for greater AI regulation as concerns grow around the security and potential misuse of increasingly powerful systems.
For OpenAI, however, the immediate question is not just how high its valuation can climb. With acquisitions on the agenda and an IPO still somewhere on the horizon, another funding round could determine how much runway the ChatGPT maker has before it has to face the public market clock.
