OpenAI weighs funding round at over $1.5 trillion valuation

• OpenAI is in early talks for a funding round valuing the company at over US$1.2 trillion ahead of its IPO, which is not expected until after 2026.
• The additional funding would give OpenAI flexibility to delay its IPO and support further mergers and acquisitions.
• This move could help OpenAI surpass rival Anthropic, which recently raised funds at a US$965 billion valuation and is also planning an IPO soon.

SAN FRANCISCO – OpenAI is holding early talks with investors about a fresh funding round that would value the ChatGPT creator at more than US$1.2 trillion (S$1.5 trillion) ahead of an initial public offering. 

Any decision to move forward with the fundraising effort will hinge on exactly when OpenAI decides to go public, a person familiar with the talks said, asking not to be identified. The talks were initiated by investors, the person said. 

OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman told Fortune earlier the company’s long-anticipated IPO is still in the works but would not happen in 2026. The additional funding, if the AI giant takes it, would provide flexibility to potentially push back its IPO further, by one or two quarters, another person familiar said. 

Another reason OpenAI could consider additional fundraising would be to support more mergers and acquisitions, the person said. 

The company has spent billions acquiring startups, including Apple veteran Jony Ive’s AI device startup io and Astral, a startup that makes Python tools for developers.

A funding round of that magnitude may allow OpenAI to leapfrog its chief rival Anthropic, which raised funds in May at a US$965 billion valuation, including the new investment. 

OpenAI is also considering legal restrictions about what information it may be able to share with private market investors ahead of an IPO, the person said.

The Financial Times reported on the talks earlier on Sept 15, noting that the round would allow longtime backers to increase their exposure ahead of the company’s IPO.   

Anthropic is preparing for its own IPO and has picked Nasdaq as its listing venue. The Claude chatbot maker is seeking to raise as much as or more than SpaceX in an IPO that could take place as soon as October, Bloomberg has reported. SpaceX raised a record US$86.3 billion in its offering in June. BLOOMBERG