OpenAI is negotiating a round of roughly $30 billion that could value it at more than $1.4 trillion, up from the $852 billion it carried after a $122 billion round closed in March. SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi-based MGX and other existing investors are reported to be in talks, and OpenAI met sovereign wealth funds and long-only funds last week. No term sheet has been finalised. OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment.
The reported motive is the interesting part. Both companies draw on the same pool of investors, and OpenAI wants the round closed before Anthropic's financial disclosures make a side-by-side comparison possible. A securities lawyer quoted on the story put it hypothetically: a company could want to set its own valuation without having to worry about a comp.
The numbers explain why that matters. OpenAI reports annualised revenue of $50 billion and projects $70 billion by year end. Anthropic's annualised revenue was around $65 billion in July, with Q3 revenue of $16.8 billion against $11.6 billion in Q2. But the two count differently - OpenAI has accused Anthropic of overstating revenue by booking the full value of contracts sold through third-party cloud providers, and Anthropic says its approach follows widely accepted methods. Anthropic is seeking a $2 trillion listing valuation while some investors push for about $1.5 trillion after Q3 missed expectations. OpenAI filed its prospectus confidentially in June and targets a 2027 listing; Sam Altman has ruled out a 2026 debut.