OpenAI raises $30 billion at $1.4 trillion valuation in new funding round

OpenAI is reportedly negotiating a fresh capital injection of at least $30 billion that would value the company at roughly $1.4 trillion, a sharp jump from the $852 billion price tag investors set just six months ago. The talks come as CEO Sam Altman has pushed back the company’s long-anticipated initial public offering, citing safety concerns over the pace of AI development.

• OpenAI is in talks to raise at least $30 billion at a roughly $1.4 trillion valuation, Bloomberg reported.
• Run-rate revenue jumped 70% since July to reach $40 billion in August, driven by a coding-focused strategy shift.
• Sam Altman has ruled out a 2026 IPO, telling Fortune he will not accept a “10% chance of killing everybody.”

• $1.4T new target valuation versus $852B set in March
• $30B size of proposed pre-IPO funding round
• 70% run-rate revenue growth since July 2026
• $40B August run-rate revenue, up from prior levels

OpenAI is in discussions with investors to raise at least $30 billion in a pre-IPO funding round that would value the ChatGPT maker at roughly $1.4 trillion, according to reporting by Bloomberg on Tuesday (September 29). The talk of new capital comes just six months after OpenAI closed a $122 billion round in March at an $852 billion valuation, a raise the company had described at the time as its final private fundraising before going public. The story was first reported by TechCrunch.

Investors are pushing to get more money into the company ahead of an expected public market debut next year, according to a report by Bloomberg. OpenAI did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment on the talks.

Revenue jumped 70% after a coding-focused pivot

OpenAI’s run-rate revenue climbed 70% since July, reaching $40 billion in August, Bloomberg reported. The company attributes the acceleration to a strategic refocus on core areas including coding tools, an area where rival Anthropic had briefly pulled ahead of OpenAI earlier in the year.

That growth appears to be the primary justification investors are citing for nearly doubling OpenAI’s valuation from the $852 billion mark set in March. A jump from $852 billion to $1.4 trillion in six months would mark one of the fastest valuation increases among private technology companies at this scale.

Altman rules out a 2026 listing over safety concerns

The new round, if completed, would function as a bridge to OpenAI’s eventual initial public offering rather than a replacement for it, according to Bloomberg’s report. That funding round was supposed to be its last private raise before an IPO, which had been, until recently, expected to take place this year. However, Altman recently ruled out a public debut in 2026, prioritizing work on AI safety instead.

Altman’s comments followed warnings from safety researchers about existential risks posed by advanced AI systems.

I think it is unacceptable to be taking like a 10% chance of killing everybody by the end of the decade.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, to Fortune

No confirmed timeline for the delayed IPO

OpenAI has not specified a new target date for its public listing following Altman’s decision to delay it past 2026. Bloomberg’s report frames the proposed $30 billion round as a mechanism to keep the company funded while it works through those safety questions before returning to public-market plans.

Neither OpenAI nor its investors have disclosed which firms are participating in the new round or how far talks have progressed.

The BlockWest read. The bridge round tells allocators that OpenAI’s board is treating the IPO delay as a financing problem, not a strategy reversal. Late-stage backers willing to pay $1.4 trillion are effectively underwriting Altman’s safety timeline rather than forcing his hand toward a near-term listing. That gives OpenAI leverage to keep private capital flowing on its own terms while public markets wait.

Whether OpenAI closes the $30 billion round at the reported $1.4 trillion valuation, and which investors commit, remains unconfirmed pending further disclosure from the company or its backers.

BlockWest is a news publication. Nothing here is investment advice. Read our disclaimer and editorial policy.