OpenAI is reportedly close to securing up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, putting the proposed price $150 billion below the roughly $1.4 trillion target reported in September. TechCrunch, citing CNBC, said Coatue and investors from the United Arab Emirates are expected to lead; negotiations are continuing, and the terms could change.
The valuation excludes the new capital. If the full $30 billion were raised on those terms, the implied post-money value would be $1.28 trillion. OpenAI’s March financing closed with $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation, so that earlier mark is not a like-for-like comparison with the new pre-money target.
The prospective United Arab Emirates backing may come with infrastructure as well as cash. TechCrunch, relaying CNBC, said OpenAI could pair the investment with a separate deal for more computing capacity from the country; neither the provider nor the capacity was specified. OpenAI has described access to compute as a strategic input for training models, serving products and lowering delivery costs.
OpenAI sells ChatGPT subscriptions and workplace AI products, while developers pay according to their use of its model APIs. The company said in March it was generating $2 billion in monthly revenue, with more than 50 million subscribers and enterprise products accounting for more than 40% of revenue.