According to Bloomberg’s report on Tuesday, OpenAI is in talks with investors to raise at least $30 billion in a pre-IPO funding round and reach a valuation of approximately $1.4 trillion. Investors are eager to provide more funding to the developer of ChatGPT ahead of the IPO expected next year. Although Anthropic briefly overtook OpenAI at the beginning of the year, a renewed focus on areas such as coding helped annualized revenue rise 70% since July to $40 billion in August. OpenAI had raised $122 billion at a valuation of $852 billion in March. This round was expected to be the final private round before the IPO, which was also expected to take place this year. However, CEO Sam Altman ruled out an IPO in 2026 in order to prioritize AI safety. According to Bloomberg, if the new round takes place, it will serve as a bridge to the IPO. OpenAI did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Why it matters
This development shows that OpenAI is seeking to manage uncertainty over its IPO timeline by meeting its pre-IPO funding needs in private markets. The increase in the company’s valuation and revenue indicates that investor interest depends not only on the number of users but also on commercial performance in specific areas of use, such as coding. However, differing assessments in council notes regarding the consistency of the valuation and investment figures require the disclosed numbers to be interpreted cautiously. The exclusion of an IPO for 2026 and the possibility that the new round could serve as a bridge leave open the relationship between the timing of funding and safety priorities for investors; OpenAI’s failure to comment further increases this uncertainty.
Background
OpenAI is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 71 articles mentioning this name in the past 90 days; the latest is dated October 3, 2026.
Term: initial public offering
An initial public offering is when a company’s shares begin trading on a stock exchange for the first time; while raising capital, the company also assumes the obligation to regularly report its financial results to the public.