OpenAI Cuts Target Valuation to $1.25 Trillion in Final Funding Talks

OpenAI has cut the valuation it is seeking in its latest funding round by $150 billion, from $1.4 trillion to $1.25 trillion, according to people involved in the talks. The shift comes as the ChatGPT maker nears the final stage of negotiations to raise roughly $30 billion.

The people familiar with the matter asked for anonymity while discussing private details, and they cautioned that the fundraising discussions are ongoing and the terms could still change. CNBC first reported the $1.25 trillion valuation figure.

To put that number in perspective: even after the trim, OpenAI would be raising at a valuation nearly 47% above the $852 billion it commanded just seven months ago, when it closed a $122 billion round in March — that figure included the money raised.

Who is putting money in?

Coatue Management is in talks to co-lead the round, according to the people. OpenAI has also held discussions with multiple investment funds from the United Arab Emirates, alongside other firms including BlackRock Inc., as Bloomberg previously reported.

Neither side is talking publicly. OpenAI declined to comment, and Coatue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One person familiar with the process said OpenAI expects to have investor commitments finalized by the end of next week. If that timeline holds, the round could be one of the largest private capital raises on record, closing within days rather than months.

What does the $150 billion haircut change?

For practitioners, the move is a signal worth reading carefully. A company cutting its target valuation at the eleventh hour is effectively conceding that investors pushed back on price — a $1.4 trillion ask proved too rich even in a market awash with AI capital. The revision doesn't suggest distress at OpenAI, but it does mark the first visible crack in the narrative that the company's valuation trajectory only moves one way.

The backdrop matters here. Technology stocks fell this week after mixed quarterly earnings from companies including Meta Platforms Inc. and Tesla Inc. fueled investor concerns that massive spending on artificial intelligence has gone too far. OpenAI is negotiating its round directly into that headwind, and the trimmed valuation reflects it.

Investors are also watching a key market test next month: the initial public offering of OpenAI rival Anthropic PBC, which is expected to price and list. How that offering is received will shape sentiment toward every AI asset, private and public, for months to come.

The IPO clock keeps moving

OpenAI has pushed back its own plans for an initial public offering until next year, citing its focus on AI safety efforts. That delay keeps the company dependent on private markets for capital — which makes this round's final terms more consequential than a routine financing.

So what does this change for anyone tracking the AI trade? The discount, if it holds through signing, resets the reference price for every late-stage AI negotiation that follows. A $1.25 trillion OpenAI gives investors a fresh, slightly cooler benchmark — and gives Anthropic's bankers a harder data point to argue against when they take that company public next month.