OpenAI lines up Coatue and UAE money at a $1.25 trillion valuation

A new round of funding for OpenAI, led by Coatue and investors from the United Arab Emirates, could raise as much as $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, people familiar with the deal said. Investors were told Thursday by the company that it wants signatures by the end of next week.

That $1.25 trillion figure doesn’t include the new money. Adding the full $30 billion would bring post-money value of OpenAI to ~$1.28 trillion, a record for any private company.

The total amount OpenAI will raise hasn’t been decided yet. Terms can shift before anyone signs.

The financing is described as an “opportunistic” bridge before a potential IPO. The talks began when investors approached OpenAI with proposals in September.

OpenAI declined to comment.

UAE cash comes with a compute deal

Alongside the investment, one person said OpenAI is in talks to secure a commercial deal for additional computing capacity from the UAE. OpenAI told investors in February that it hopes to attain ~$600 billion in total compute spend by 2030.

SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi’s MGX are among existing backers who have also held talks about joining the round, Cryptopolitan reported on October 20. The same report pegged the target at more than $1.4 trillion for a round of some $30 billion.

OpenAI would use new funding to pay for its infrastructure commitments and fortify its balance sheet. OpenAI has already talked to long-only investors and sovereign wealth funds.

According to Cryptopolitan’s coverage, previous estimates in September signaled ~$1.2 trillion. OpenAI’s March round was at $852 billion post-money, so the new pre-money mark is ~$400 billion higher seven months later.

That March round, which landed $122 billion of committed capital, was backed by Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank.

Bridge money lands ahead of a 2027 listing

OpenAI confidentially filed its prospectus with the SEC in June.

OpenAI “will be a public company in 2027,” CFO Sarah Friar told employees in August. A month on, CEO Sam Altman said it would be unwise to go public then.

Anthropic, a top rival to OpenAI, also filed confidentially in June. It is said to be seeking a valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in its listing, after a round in May that raised $65 billion at a valuation of $965 billion.

Anthropic is already talking to potential investors.

OpenAI is looking to lock down its money before the expected mid-November listing of Anthropic, when disclosures will give investors their first detailed look at the Anthropic books. Some investors reckoned the early close was a way to raise money that could have been used in an IPO for Anthropic.

OpenAI told investors the release of GPT-6 Astra pushed annualized revenue to $50 billion, with a $70 billion figure possible by the end of the year. Annualized revenue is the current run rate annualized for 12 months and excludes income already booked.

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