How much is OpenAI's new round and who is leading it?

The reported round is $30 billion, led by prospective backers from the United Arab Emirates, with U.S. venture capital firm Coatue expected to participate. CNBC reported the discussions.

How does this compare with OpenAI's previous raise?

The proposed round is much smaller than OpenAI's last major raise in March, when it raised $122 billion at a post-money valuation of $852 billion.

Is OpenAI going public soon?

OpenAI appears to have cooled on going public this year. CFO Sarah Friar told employees in August that OpenAI “will be a public company in 2027,” and CEO Sam Altman later said he believes it would be “ill-advised” to go public this year.

AI Business & IndustrySiliconANGLE AI3m agoOct 23, 2026, 10:01 JST

OpenAI in talks for $30 billion round at $1.25 trillion value

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3 Key Points

What happened
OpenAI is discussing a $30 billion investment led by UAE backers with Coatue expected to join, valuing the company at $1.25 trillion, per CNBC.
Why it matters
That valuation would make OpenAI the most valuable private company of all time, and the round is positioned as an “opportunistic” bridge — suggesting the company needs outside capital while it finalizes plans.

WHO IT HITSThis matters most to OpenAI's prospective investors and its finance and strategy teams, who are negotiating the round and setting the company's valuation ahead of a listing. Companies weighing their own private fundraising may also watch how the UAE-led structure is received.

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Context & Analysis

OpenAI's last major raise, in March, brought in $122 billion at a post-money valuation of $852 billion from investors including Amazon.com Inc., SoftBank Group Corp. and Nvidia Corp. At the time, that money was assumed to be enough to carry the company until it could finalize its long-awaited IPO, and it filed a confidential prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

The new round is framed as an “opportunistic” bridge, which suggests the company's timeline has stretched. In August, CFO Sarah Friar told employees OpenAI “will be a public company in 2027,” and less than a month later CEO Sam Altman said he believes it would be “ill-advised” for the company to go public this year. That shift appears to have opened space for rival Anthropic PBC, which is reportedly seeking a valuation of between $1.5 trillion and $2.5 trillion and is thought to be much further along — many believe it could be a public company in time for Thanksgiving.

Alongside the investment, OpenAI is reportedly discussing a separate commercial deal with the UAE investors that would give it access to more compute capacity in the Middle East — a reminder that the round may be as much about securing infrastructure as about cash.

FAQ

How much is OpenAI's new round and who is leading it?: The reported round is $30 billion, led by prospective backers from the United Arab Emirates, with U.S. venture capital firm Coatue expected to participate. CNBC reported the discussions.
How does this compare with OpenAI's previous raise?: The proposed round is much smaller than OpenAI's last major raise in March, when it raised $122 billion at a post-money valuation of $852 billion.
Is OpenAI going public soon?: OpenAI appears to have cooled on going public this year. CFO Sarah Friar told employees in August that OpenAI “will be a public company in 2027,” and CEO Sam Altman later said he believes it would be “ill-advised” to go public this year.

SiliconANGLE AIRead Original Article

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