San Francisco-based OpenAI is close to finalizing a funding round of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, CNBC reported Thursday, Oct. 22, citing people familiar with the deal.

Why it matters: A valuation above $1 trillion would make OpenAI the most valuable private company ever, TechCrunch noted, and it raises the bar for its expected IPO.

The deal so far

  • Investors from the United Arab Emirates and Coatue are leading the round, CNBC reported.
  • OpenAI told investors it aims to get signatures by the end of next week, but the final size is still being set.
  • OpenAI is also negotiating a deal for more computing capacity from the UAE, according to one person CNBC spoke with.
  • OpenAI declined to comment, TechCrunch reported.

How it compares

OpenAI's last raise in March valued it at $852 billion post-money, TechCrunch said. Bloomberg reported a month ago that it was seeking $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation.

OpenAI filed IPO paperwork confidentially in June. CFO Sarah Friar told employees in August the company "will be a public company in 2027," CNBC reported.

Rival Anthropic, also based in San Francisco, raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May and is reportedly seeking $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in its own IPO.

More AI money this week: Flapping Airplanes raises $1 billion at a $6 billion valuation.