OpenAI lowers valuation target, raises up to $30 billion

OpenAI is closing in on a new funding round of up to $30 billion but has lowered its valuation target to get there. The company originally pitched investors on a $1.4 trillion valuation, according to internal documents obtained by the Financial Times. That number has since dropped to $1.25 trillion, CNBC also reports. The FT says demand was weaker than in previous rounds, with some backers experiencing "indigestion" after heavy investments in earlier fundraises.

UAE investors and investment firm Coatue are leading the $30 billion round. The funding is being positioned as a bridge ahead of a potential IPO. OpenAI is also negotiating a commercial deal to secure additional compute capacity through the UAE, according to CNBC.

OpenAI confidentially filed an IPO prospectus with the SEC in June. CFO Sarah Friar told employees in August that OpenAI would be a publicly traded company by 2027. CEO Sam Altman said in September that the timing was unfavorable for going public. He had already communicated that internally back in June. Competitor Anthropic is also preparing an IPO and is targeting a valuation between $1.5 and $2 trillion.

AI News Without the Hype – Curated by Humans

Subscribe to THE DECODER for ad-free reading, a weekly AI newsletter, our exclusive "AI Radar" frontier report six times a year, full archive access, and access to our comment section.