Reuters published an exclusive report at about 07:22 Beijing time on October 20 saying that OpenAI is racing to lock in investor commitments before Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November. Citing two people familiar with the matter, Reuters said the unusually fast fundraising could value OpenAI at over $1.4 trillion. This is a press report based on unnamed sources, not a company announcement.
What Reuters reported
According to one of the people cited by Reuters, SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi-based MGX and other existing OpenAI backers are in talks to join the round of about $30 billion. Reuters said OpenAI held meetings with long-only funds and sovereign wealth funds the previous week, while Anthropic hosted its own investor day.
Reuters also reported, again citing one of the people, that OpenAI is telling investors it has reached $50 billion in annualized revenue and expects that to rise to $70 billion by the end of the year. The same person told Reuters that OpenAI has cut prices on its cheaper models, which OpenAI told investors boosted usage. These numbers come from Reuters' sources, not from public statements by OpenAI.
The people told Reuters that part of the reason for the tight timetable is to get ahead of Anthropic, since the two labs are drawing on a similar investor base, and to finish before Anthropic's financial disclosures invite direct comparisons.
Responses and background
OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment, according to Reuters, and Anthropic and MGX did not immediately respond. Anthropic has not confirmed the timing of its IPO; the mid-November date is described by Reuters as expected. Reuters noted that OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion in March after a $122 billion round.
Bloomberg reported on September 29 that OpenAI was seeking at least $30 billion at a valuation of about $1.4 trillion, saying at the time that the talks were at an early stage.