OpenAI weighs pre-IPO funding talks that could value it above $1.2 trillion

OpenAI is in early talks with large investors about a fresh funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker at more than $1.2 trillion before any public listing, according to Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. The conversations were initiated by investors rather than the company, people familiar with the matter told those outlets, and the figure could still change. OpenAI declined to comment. The round is not closed, and treating $1.2 trillion as a done deal would overstate what reporters have confirmed.

A private raise while the IPO clock slips

Bloomberg reported that any decision to proceed will hinge on when OpenAI chooses to go public. That timing is already soft. Chief executive Sam Altman has said going public in 2026 would be ill-advised while the company focuses on safety, according to Fortune and follow-on coverage that places a likelier debut in 2027. A large private round would give OpenAI more r

What is known, and what is not

Across Bloomberg, FT, and WSJ accounts, the shared facts are narrow. Talks are early. Investors started them. The valuation under discussion sits at or above $1.2 trillion. OpenAI will not confirm the conversations. Size of the potential raise, identity of lead investors, and a closing timeline have not been disclosed in the reporting cited here.

That restraint matters because OpenAI's last round already reset the scale of AI private markets. Another trillion-plus conversation so soon after March would signal that capital is still chasing the company even as Altman publicly cools IPO expectations and as rivals such as Anthropic prepare their own listing paths. It would also show that safety messaging and fundraising can run in parallel: the same week Altman frames 2026 as the wrong year to go public, investors are reportedly offering a higher private price.

The odd angle is the asymmetry. OpenAI keeps saying the technology is too consequential for a rushed public debut, while the private market is willing to pay a trillion-plus premium for the same risk. Until term sheets land, the $1.2 trillion number is a reported talking point, not a completed valuation. For now, the news is the willingness to talk at that altitude, not a closed round.unway without the disclosure and scrutiny of a listing, which is exactly why investors are circling now.

In March, OpenAI closed a financing with $122 billion in committed capital that valued the company at $852 billion. A jump above $1.2 trillion would mark roughly a 40 percent step up from that post-money mark, if the talks harden into paper. Secondary reports note the latest discussions come on the heels of OpenAI's newest frontier model release, which only sharpens demand from funds that missed earlier allocations.