In March, OpenAI raised $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation, in what had been expected to be its last private financing before a public listing. The company’s path has since shifted: an IPO once anticipated this year is no longer on the immediate horizon.¹

Through the first part of the year, Anthropic briefly moved ahead of OpenAI. But OpenAI’s renewed emphasis on areas including coding helped drive a reported 70% rise in run-rate revenue since July, reaching $40 billion in August. That commercial rebound has sharpened investor interest in the ChatGPT maker, even as the timetable for a market debut slips.

Now, Bloomberg reports that OpenAI is discussing a pre-IPO round of at least $30 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion. For investors, the proposed deal would offer a chance to back one of the AI sector’s dominant companies before it lists. The funding is described as a bridge to an eventual IPO, not a replacement for one.¹

Altman, however, has made clear that speed is not the only consideration. He has ruled out a 2026 public debut in order to prioritize AI safety, responding to existential-risk warnings with a blunt assessment: “I think it is unacceptable to be taking like a 10% chance of killing everybody by the end of the decade.”¹

That leaves OpenAI balancing two powerful pressures: investors seeking exposure to its rapid growth, and a chief executive insisting that the company’s safety obligations must come before an IPO clock. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.