Bloomberg reports OpenAI aiming for a $1.4 trillion valuation in a new $30 billion round
Bloomberg reported on October 5 that OpenAI, according to anonymous sources, is negotiating a new funding round of at least $30 billion, with Emirati funds and BlackRock having discussed participating.
Bloomberg reported on October 5 that OpenAI, according to anonymous sources, is negotiating a new funding round of at least $30 billion, in which Emirati funds and BlackRock have discussed participating. The company is said to have presented a fixed pre-money valuation of around $1.4 trillion without having chosen a lead investor. No party has confirmed the talks, but the structure turns the normal venture process on its head and shows — if the reporting is correct — how much pricing power the company has over the capital chasing AI infrastructure.
What Bloomberg reports
According to Bloomberg, which cites people familiar with the matter, OpenAI is in talks with several investment funds from the United Arab Emirates, including the Abu Dhabi-based MGX, about helping anchor a round of at least $30 billion in the company behind ChatGPT (Bloomberg). The funds are said, according to the sources, to be part of a syndicate, and they have discussed putting in up to $10 billion combined.
BlackRock is, according to the reporting, additionally in discussions about participating in the round alongside the syndicate. OpenAI is also said to have held talks with the University of California's endowment, which is already an investor, and existing backers Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz have, according to the sources, discussed putting in money.
None of the parties has confirmed anything. OpenAI and BlackRock declined to comment, MGX did not respond, Thrive declined, and Andreessen Horowitz and the University of California did not respond. Bloomberg stresses that the fundraising is ongoing and that details could change.
The numbers behind the round
The outlines are large even by OpenAI's standards:
- At least $30 billion in new capital, at a valuation of around $1.4 trillion — according to Bloomberg News.
- The UAE syndicate has, according to Bloomberg's sources, discussed contributing up to $10 billion combined.
- The previous round, completed in March, raised $122 billion at a valuation of $852 billion including the new money.
The leap from $852 billion to roughly $1.4 trillion in pre-money valuation in about seven months is the core of the story: this is, according to the reporting, not a price the capital market has dictated.
The process is turned upside down
The most unusual aspect of the talks is how they are structured. According to Bloomberg's sources, OpenAI is presenting the $1.4 trillion pre-money valuation to investors as a fixed price — without having chosen a lead investor. Normally it is the reverse: investment firms submit terms for funding rounds and negotiate with the company to lead it.
That a company can set the price in advance and let investors line up without a lead investor negotiating terms would — if the talks are described correctly — be an expression of OpenAI's negotiating position. For the investors, it is probably about something other than classic venture returns: access to the company at the center of the AI infrastructure buildout.
Why the Gulf funds are stepping up
MGX, the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm that according to the sources is set to help anchor the syndicate, has according to Bloomberg invested in previous OpenAI and Anthropic rounds. Earlier this year the firm raised close to $50 billion to accelerate deployment of AI infrastructure and technology, Bloomberg News has reported.
Invezz's analysis, which Bloomberg has not confirmed, points to a strategic explanation: Abu Dhabi may be weighing more than financial returns, since OpenAI sits at the intersection of infrastructure and national AI strategy (Invezz). For Emirati state-linked funds, participation — if the analysis is correct — is probably about positioning themselves in the very layer of global AI construction, not just buying shares in a company.
What the valuation rests on
Here the distinctions between source-backed facts and analysis matter. Invezz estimates that OpenAI's annual revenue run rate has approached $70 billion, partly driven by enterprise sales that have more than doubled since July, and that a $1.4 trillion valuation corresponds to roughly 20 times annualized revenue (Invezz). These figures are presented only as Invezz's analysis and are not part of Bloomberg's reporting.
If the estimate holds, the multiple says something about what investors are actually paying for: around 20 times annualized revenue is a pricing that assumes many years of very rapid growth, not current results.
The IPO perspective
A round of this size from private investors is connected to the IPO being pushed further out. Bloomberg reports that OpenAI has postponed its plans for a listing until at least next year, citing the company's focus on AI safety work. Invezz describes the postponement as "at least until 2027." The sources are thus not entirely aligned on the exact time horizon, but the picture is the same: the company does not need the public markets to finance the buildout now.
As long as state-linked funds and large players like BlackRock step up in the private market, OpenAI avoids the public market's demands for disclosure and quarterly expectations.
What remains uncertain
The entire story rests on anonymous sources. No involved party — neither OpenAI, BlackRock, MGX, Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, nor the University of California — has confirmed the talks, the size, or the terms, and there is no primary documentation from OpenAI itself. Bloomberg explicitly notes that the fundraising is ongoing and that details could change: the size, the participants, and the structure could end up different, or the round could fall apart.
What nonetheless stands out in the reporting is the pattern: capital chasing AI infrastructure — from Abu Dhabi, from BlackRock, and from endowments — is said to have been willing to accept terms OpenAI itself has set. How long such pricing power lasts, no source says anything about.