OpenAI is close to raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation before the new money, led by Coatue with investors in the United Arab Emirates, CNBC reported, per TechCrunch. The terms are still being negotiated. OpenAI declined to comment.
A month ago Bloomberg reported OpenAI was raising $30 billion at $1.4 trillion. The new figure is about $150 billion lower, and the full $30 billion would put the post-money valuation near $1.28 trillion. It is still a markup of roughly 47% on the $852 billion post-money price of the March round. Anyone who bought in March is up, and anyone who expected the October round to price at $1.4 trillion just watched the step-up shrink.
CNBC also reported that the UAE money could come with a deal for more computing capacity from the UAE. OpenAI filed confidential IPO paperwork in June and has set no date. Anthropic, by comparison, is seeking $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in its listing, according to CNBC, with a draft prospectus that we went through on October 21.
Why take a lower price now? The round buys time before an IPO, and two weeks ago the Financial Times put OpenAI's annualized revenue around $50 billion, as we reported.
Bottom Line
The private market just priced OpenAI below its own ask. Expect the IPO range for both labs to be argued from that $1.25 trillion mark.