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OpenAI nears up to $30B raise at $1.25T valuation after cutting its $1.4T target
OpenAI is reportedly close to raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation. Coatue and UAE investors are leading the round, which follows investor resistance to an earlier $1.4 trillion pitch and would bridge to a planned 2027 IPO.
From the TechCrunch AI article of October 22, 2026 and cited sources: Under the reported terms, OpenAI would raise up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, with Coatue and UAE investors leading. [3] [1] [4]
SOURCES[3] CNBC: OpenAI nears up to $30 billion funding round at… cnbc.com[1] TechCrunch: OpenAI working on new $30B raise at $1.25T… techcrunch.com[4] Tech Funding News: OpenAI trims valuation target to $1.25T… techfundingnews.com
AT Pulse research deskPublished · Updated · 5 min read · AI-assisted analysisAI-assisted, not human-edited. Methodology Corrections Who owns this site
- What happened
- Under the reported terms, OpenAI would raise up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, with Coatue and UAE investors leading. [3] [1] [4]
- Original source
- TechCrunch AI article, independent perspective
- Brief by
- AT Pulse research desk AI-assisted; publisher and contact on the desk page
- When
- October 22, 2026 article published
- Covered
- Oct 24 edition
- Evidence
- 8 sources across 8 sites
- 1TechCrunch: OpenAI working on new $30B raise at $1.25T…techcrunch.com
- 2OpenAI trims valuation target to $1.25tn after pitching…ft.com
- 3CNBC: OpenAI nears up to $30 billion funding round at…cnbc.com
- 4Tech Funding News: OpenAI trims valuation target to $1.25T…techfundingnews.com
- 5Pulse 2.0: OpenAI submits confidential S-1 filingpulse2.com
- 6CoinDesk: OpenAI seeks $30 billion at $1.4 trillion…coindesk.com
Reach: not measured yet
Under the reported terms, OpenAI would raise up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, with Coatue and UAE investors leading. The company aims to collect commitments by about October 30. Terms are still being negotiated. [3] [1] [4]
OpenAI pitched about $1.4 trillion earlier in October, including to private-wealth clients through Morgan Stanley and Dragoneer. It cut the target after pushback from investors who question how much AI models and compute will cost, and some of whom would rather wait for Anthropic's IPO. [2] [4] [8]
OpenAI cut its asking price after investors pushed back, yet the round would still set a private-company record. Implication: it sets a reference point for the OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs and ties OpenAI's compute more closely to Gulf deals.
Executive brief
OpenAI has had to lower its asking price. According to CNBC, the company is close to raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation. That is down from the roughly $1.4 trillion it pitched weeks earlier, after prospective investors pushed back. Coatue and UAE investors are leading the round, which CNBC describes as a bridge to an IPO in 2027. If it closes, OpenAI would be the most valuable private company on record (TechCrunch). Terms are still being negotiated. OpenAI declined to comment, so no reviewed source has company confirmation.
What changed and event timeline
Record round at $852B
OpenAI raised $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation. It later completed a $7 billion tender offer at the same price ().
Confidential IPO filing
A draft S-1 was reportedly submitted around May 22, and OpenAI confirmed the filing on June 8. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan were reported as lead underwriters ().
$1.4T target and IPO delay
Bloomberg reported a raise of at least $30 billion at about $1.4 trillion. Sam Altman said OpenAI would not go public in 2026 (;).
Price cut after pushback
Documents seen by the FT show that $1.4 trillion was pitched earlier in the month, including to private-wealth clients through Morgan Stanley and Dragoneer. The target was then cut to $1.25 trillion (;).
CNBC says the round is nearly done
Coatue and UAE investors lead a round of up to $30 billion. OpenAI is aiming for signatures by the end of the following week (;).
Capabilities and access
This is a financing story, not a model release. The only product news in the period comes from CoinDesk, which says that around the time of the Bloomberg report OpenAI launched an always-on agent called "Dots" and a $500 subscription tier (CoinDesk). The FT reports this as a right of first refusal on UAE compute (Tech Funding News).
Read the full section
This is a financing story, not a model release. No new model or version is tied to the round. The only product news in the period comes from CoinDesk, which says that around the time of the Bloomberg report OpenAI launched an always-on agent called "Dots" and a $500 subscription tier (CoinDesk). The UAE part of the deal may include more computing capacity for OpenAI (CNBC). The FT reports this as a right of first refusal on UAE compute (Tech Funding News).
Technical analysis for researchers and developers
The reviewed sources say nothing about architecture, evaluations or reproducibility.
Read the full section
The reviewed sources say nothing about architecture, evaluations or reproducibility. The documented points are about how the deal is structured:
- Valuation math: $1.25 trillion pre-money plus $30 billion of new money gives about $1.28 trillion post-money. That is roughly 47% above March's $852 billion and about 11% below the $1.4 trillion first pitched.
- Compute bundled with equity: linking UAE capital to compute capacity continues a pattern of tying infrastructure to investment. Where the capacity sits matters for latency, data residency and export-control exposure. The sources give no figures for capacity.
- Funding mix: pitching to private-wealth channels widens the investor base before an IPO.
Claims and evidence
- Up to $30 billion at $1.25 trillion, led by Coatue and UAE investors: reported by CNBC from unnamed sources and matched by FT reporting based on documents.
- Cut from $1.4 trillion because of investor resistance: FT and Yahoo/Proactive, which also say BlackRock was discussed as a participant.
- Annualized revenue above $40 billion: comes from a single secondhand outlet (CoinDesk) and has no corroboration in the reviewed sources.
Read the full section
- Up to $30 billion at $1.25 trillion, led by Coatue and UAE investors: reported by CNBC from unnamed sources and matched by FT reporting based on documents. OpenAI has not confirmed it.
- Cut from $1.4 trillion because of investor resistance: FT and Yahoo/Proactive, which also say BlackRock was discussed as a participant.
- Annualized revenue above $40 billion: comes from a single secondhand outlet (CoinDesk) and has no corroboration in the reviewed sources.
- Commitment deadline of October 30: Tech Funding News.
Context and prior work
- OpenAI's private valuation has risen quickly. It raised $40 billion in March 2025, then $122 billion at $852 billion in March 2026 (Tech Funding News).
- Anthropic raised $30 billion at $380 billion in February 2026, then $65 billion at $965 billion in May.
- Reports of Anthropic's IPO target differ: $1.5–2 trillion according to CNBC via TechCrunch, and more than $2 trillion according to CoinDesk.
Read the full section
- OpenAI's private valuation has risen quickly. It raised $40 billion in March 2025, then $122 billion at $852 billion in March 2026 (Tech Funding News).
- Anthropic raised $30 billion at $380 billion in February 2026, then $65 billion at $965 billion in May. It also filed confidentially for an IPO in June (TechCrunch).
- Reports of Anthropic's IPO target differ: $1.5–2 trillion according to CNBC via TechCrunch, and more than $2 trillion according to CoinDesk.
Limitations, safety and contested findings
- All terms are still being negotiated and could change (TechCrunch).
- Investors are questioning how much spending AI models and compute infrastructure will need (Yahoo/Proactive). Some reportedly prefer to wait for Anthropic's IPO (Tech Funding News).
- Only CoinDesk attributes the IPO delay to Altman citing heightened AI safety concerns. The other reviewed sources do not repeat that explanation (CoinDesk).
Read the full section
- All terms are still being negotiated and could change (TechCrunch).
- Investors are questioning how much spending AI models and compute infrastructure will need (Yahoo/Proactive). Some reportedly prefer to wait for Anthropic's IPO (Tech Funding News).
- Only CoinDesk attributes the IPO delay to Altman citing heightened AI safety concerns. The other reviewed sources do not repeat that explanation (CoinDesk).
Business and practitioner implications
- Pricing signal: the first cut to an asking price at OpenAI's scale suggests private demand for frontier labs has limits, even though the round would still set a record.
- Effect on IPOs: a valuation above $1 trillion raises the bar for OpenAI's own 2027 listing and serves as a reference point for Anthropic's (TechCrunch).
- Vendor risk: enterprises building on OpenAI should expect its compute capacity to depend more on Gulf infrastructure deals.
Read the full section
- Pricing signal: the first cut to an asking price at OpenAI's scale suggests private demand for frontier labs has limits, even though the round would still set a record.
- Effect on IPOs: a valuation above $1 trillion raises the bar for OpenAI's own 2027 listing and serves as a reference point for Anthropic's (TechCrunch).
- Vendor risk: enterprises building on OpenAI should expect its compute capacity to depend more on Gulf infrastructure deals. They should also watch how the company's spending commitments are financed.
The source trail.
Sources (8)
TechCrunch: OpenAI working on new $30B raise at $1.25T valuation ahead of IPO
techcrunch.comOpenAI trims valuation target to $1.25tn after pitching higher price
Related coverage; assess separately
ft.com