OpenAI is reportedly racing to raise about $30 billion at a valuation above $1.4 trillion before rival Anthropic lists its shares in mid-November.
Key Points:
- OpenAI wants commitments for a roughly $30 billion round before Anthropic's expected IPO.
- The ChatGPT maker says annualized revenue hit $50 billion and could reach $70 billion by year-end.
- The round would lift OpenAI's valuation from $852 billion in March to more than $1.4 trillion.
OpenAI Funding Push
The ChatGPT developer wants investor commitments locked in before Anthropic's market debut, two people familiar with the matter said.
Existing backers, including SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi's MGX, are in talks to join a deal expected to move faster than usual for its size. OpenAI met with long-only funds and sovereign wealth funds last week, while Anthropic hosted its own investor day.
The company is pitching annualized revenue of $50 billion, which it expects to climb to $70 billion by year-end, and credits part of the jump to its GPT-6 Astra model. It has also cut prices on some cheaper models, saying the move lifted usage.
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Anthropic IPO Pressure
Timing drives the push. OpenAI wants to close the round before Anthropic's financial disclosures invite side-by-side comparisons, which could prompt investors to press Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar for more detail. Some investors read the effort as a bid to tie up money that might otherwise flow into Anthropic's IPO.
The rush comes as the IPO market wobbles, with several companies pulling or pausing listings and chipmakers in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index shedding $1.6 trillion in market value in under two weeks.
Anthropic posted third-quarter revenue of $16.8 billion, up from $11.6 billion in the second quarter and $4.7 billion in the first.
Still, slower month-to-month growth has led some investors to argue that a valuation near $1.5 trillion fits better than the $2 trillion the company has sought.
The rivals also count revenue differently. OpenAI books it net of partners' shares and has accused Anthropic of inflating sales by counting the gross value of contracts sold through cloud providers. Anthropic says it follows established accounting practices.
The new round would mark a steep climb from March, when OpenAI closed a record $122 billion raise at an $852 billion valuation that included Amazon's pledge to invest up to $50 billion. Chief Executive Sam Altman has ruled out a 2026 listing, and fresh cash would help cover infrastructure costs if weak markets delay the planned 2027 IPO.
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