Thought Leadership
OpenAI is in early talks regarding a pre-IPO funding round with a valuation of more than 1.2 trillion dollars.
According to concordant reports from The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, OpenAI is in early talks with investors about a new funding round that would value the ChatGPT creator at more than 1.2 trillion US dollars. That would represent an increase of around 40 percent compared to the round last closed in March 2026, in which OpenAI raised 122 billion US dollars and was valued at 852 billion US dollars.
Among the investors in that round were SoftBank, a16z, D.E. Shaw, MGX, TPG, and T. Rowe Price, as well as Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft. According to people familiar with the matter, the recent outreach originated from the investors, not OpenAI itself; whether and when the round actually comes to fruition depends significantly on the timing of a potential IPO.
Higher target valuation than offered by investors
The New York Times and Forbes report, citing their own sources, that OpenAI is actually aiming for an even higher valuation of up to 1.5 trillion US dollars, whereas investors initially offered a valuation of 1.2 trillion US dollars. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated last weekend that an IPO in the US is not planned for this year.
According to earlier reports, the company confidentially filed documents for a potential IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June 2026, but has postponed the process since then. Should the new funding round materialize, existing long-term investors such as SoftBank and Thrive Capital could further increase their stakes, though they would have to wait longer for potential returns from an IPO.
Growing revenue as an argument for a higher valuation
According to reports, the basis for the higher target valuation is accelerated revenue growth: With the model version GPT-5.6 released in July 2026, OpenAI’s annualized revenue rose to more than 40 billion US dollars last month, an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous month. In the first half of 2026, revenue growth had proceeded comparatively slowly, while competitor Anthropic grew more strongly during that period.
According to the Financial Times, Anthropic investors assume that the company’s annualized revenue has already reached more than 65 billion US dollars and could rise to 100 to 120 billion US dollars by the end of 2026; following a funding round in June 2026, Anthropic was valued at 965 billion US dollars, and for an IPO expected later this year, investors reportedly expect a valuation of 2 trillion US dollars or more.
(Editorial Team)
