Topline
OpenAI is discussing raising money as part of a new funding round which would value the company at as much as $1.5 trillion, according to multiple reports early on Wednesday, days after the company’s CEO Sam Altman announced that his company will not go public in 2026.
Open AI CEO Sam Altman announced over the weekend that his company will not go public this year.
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Key Facts
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the Times’ Dealbook newsletter reported that investors had recently approached the ChatGPT-maker with an offer to invest in the company at a $1.2 trillion valuation.
OpenAI, however, is seeking a much higher $1.5 trillion valuation which is more than double the $730 billion it was valued at during its last funding round.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that OpenAI had held early talks with investors about raising funds at a “more than $1.2 trillion” valuation.
The higher valuation sought by the company is reportedly due to the increased success of its coding tool Codex, which is a rival to Anthropic’s Claude Code, and its latest AI models GPT-6 Astra and GPT-5.6 Sol.
The report noted that in August, OpenAI was on track to generate $40 billion in annualized revenue, doubling its sales from the end of 2025.
How Does This Compare With Anthropic?
In May, Anthropic announced it had raised $65 billion in its Series H funding at a post-money valuation of $965 billion. The funding round was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Anthropic disclosed to investors that it was on track to generate annualized revenue of more than $65 billion—which would put it ahead of OpenAI’s metric. According to the Financial Times, Anthropic’s investors believe its annualized could rise to between $100bn and $120bn by the end of 2026. The annualized number mentioned by both companies is a projection for a full year’s revenue based on revenue earned during a shorter period. The Claude maker is expected to make its public market debut later this year and its investors believe it could be at a valuation of $2 trillion or more.
What Has OpenAI Said About Its IPO Plans?
In an interview with Fortune that aired on Sunday, Altman said his company would not go public in 2026. Pointing to growing safety concerns about the technology the OpenAI CEO said right now was an “ill-advised” time to go public. He said the company might need to make decisions that are not in the interest of shareholders like “pausing” development of frontier models to allow for “more safety and alignment progress.” Altman added that there was no pressure on OpenAI to go public immediately and “we’ll do it when we’re ready.”
further reading
OpenAI Considers New Financing at a $1.5 Trillion Valuation (New York Times)
OpenAI Considers Pre-IPO Funding Round at More Than $1.2 Trillion Valuation (Wall Street Journal)
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