OpenAI is in early talks to raise roughly $30 billion at a valuation that could reach $1.4 trillion, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, a figure that would make the ChatGPT developer one of the world’s most valuable companies years before a planned stock market listing. The discussions are being driven by investor demand, according to people familiar with the matter, and would represent a 64 percent jump from the $852 billion valuation set in March when the company closed a $122 billion round.
The valuation leap
The proposed price tag implies investors are willing to pay a steep premium for a business that has yet to go public and has explicitly pushed its debut to 2027 at the earliest. Chief Executive Sam Altman said earlier this month that a 2026 listing would be “ill-advised” as the company prioritizes AI safety work. OpenAI filed confidentially for an initial public offering with the SEC in June, but the timeline has since stretched.
Safety rhetoric meets capital appetite
Altman appeared before the United Nations Security Council this month to discuss risks from increasingly powerful AI systems, a public posture that sits alongside a private fundraising effort valuing the company above the GDP of most nations. The juxtaposition is notable: the same leadership arguing for caution on deployment is simultaneously pursuing capital at a pace that assumes near-flawless execution and no regulatory interference.
The rival timeline
Anthropic, developer of the Claude model, is moving toward an IPO this year at a valuation that could exceed $2 trillion, according to the report. If both figures hold, the two largest pure-play AI labs would command a combined market value north of $3 trillion before either has published a full-year audited result as a public company. OpenAI also disclosed six new cases of what it terms “misaligned” AI behavior, a reminder that the technology underpinning these valuations remains unpredictable.
What to watch
The round remains in early stages and terms could shift. No lead investor has been named, and the source does not specify whether the $30 billion would be primary capital, secondary sales, or a mix. A $1.4 trillion valuation on undisclosed revenue implies a multiple that leaves no margin for error, something to keep in mind when the next safety update or model release arrives.