OpenAI Races to Secure About $30 Billion at Over $1.4 Trillion Before Anthropic’s Mid-November IPO

OpenAI is racing to lock in investor commitments for a round of about $30 billion that could value the company at more than $1.4 trillion, before Anthropic's expected stock-market debut in mid-November, Reuters reported on 19 October, citing two people familiar with the matter. The timing turns a private fundraising into a head-to-head contest for the same pool of institutional money, with OpenAI trying to close before Anthropic's financial disclosures invite side-by-side comparisons.

The account below draws on Reuters' exclusive as republished by The Star and Global Banking & Finance Review, plus separate reporting by Crypto Briefing. All of it rests on unnamed sources, and neither company has confirmed the terms.

What Reuters reported about the round

SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi-based MGX and other existing OpenAI backers are in talks to join the round, according to the Reuters report as carried by The Star. The round is expected to move faster than is typical for an offering of its size. OpenAI held meetings with long-only funds and sovereign wealth funds the week before, while Anthropic hosted its own investor day.

OpenAI declined to comment, as did SoftBank. Anthropic and MGX did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters said.

The figures matter against OpenAI's last valuation. The company was valued at $852 billion in March 2026, after a record $122 billion round that included a commitment of up to $50 billion from Amazon, per the Reuters account. A valuation above $1.4 trillion would be roughly 64% higher than that March mark.

An earlier report fits the same outline. Crypto Briefing's 29 September article, citing Bloomberg, said OpenAI was seeking at least $30 billion at about $1.4 trillion in early-stage talks, as a bridge while a public listing slipped to 2027, with Chief Executive Sam Altman reportedly ruling out an IPO this year amid AI safety concerns. The new Reuters reporting suggests the talks have advanced and sped up.

Why OpenAI is in a hurry

Reuters says both labs are tapping a similar investor base, and OpenAI wants to capitalise on revenue growth after launching new models. Some investors see the push as an effort to lock in capital that might otherwise go to Anthropic's IPO. Investors also told Reuters that OpenAI needs money for its infrastructure commitments and to bolster its balance sheet if deteriorating IPO markets delay its planned 2027 listing.

OpenAI's pitch, per Reuters, is that growth accelerated after the launch of its GPT-6 Astra model. One source said the company has reached $50 billion in annualised revenue and expects $70 billion by year-end. OpenAI also cut prices on cheaper models, which it says boosted usage, and told investors it can lower prices further.

Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who is not working on the deal and spoke hypothetically, told Reuters that OpenAI "could want to set its own valuation" to avoid a comparison, adding: "It's really a two-horse race in terms of being public."

The Anthropic comparison

Anthropic is the benchmark investors will use. Reuters reported earlier that its annualised revenue reached roughly $65 billion by July, and that its quarterly revenue rose to $16.8 billion in the third quarter from $11.6 billion in the second. Slowing month-to-month growth has worried investors about its valuation. Some existing and prospective Anthropic investors have argued for a market debut valuation of about $1.5 trillion, against the $2 trillion Anthropic desired, after third-quarter results fell short of expectations, Reuters said.

The two companies also dispute how revenue is counted. OpenAI records revenue net of partner shares and has accused Anthropic of inflating its figures by counting the full gross value of contracts sold through third-party cloud providers, according to Reuters. Anthropic told Reuters it follows established accounting practices. The dispute matters because it decides whether the two growth stories can be compared at all, and an IPO prospectus will force Anthropic to show its method publicly.

Sources do not fully agree on OpenAI's own run rate. The 29 September Crypto Briefing piece, citing Axios, put annualised revenue as "approaching $70 billion", while the Reuters account puts it at $50 billion now, rising to $70 billion by year-end per one source. The gap may reflect different definitions or dates, and OpenAI has not published a reconciliation in the reporting reviewed.

A cooler market backdrop

The fundraising lands in a shakier market. Reuters described choppy trading since September, driven by oil price volatility, rising bond yields, AI safety concerns and scrutiny of AI infrastructure costs and data-centre debt. CoreWeave's shares and debt fell last week as investors examined its nearly $50 billion in borrowings. AirTrunk REIT, backed by Blackstone, Firmus, backed by Nvidia, and SB Energy, backed by SoftBank, have pulled or paused listings, and the nuclear services firm Holtec withdrew its U.S. listing last month, citing a "perfect storm" tied mainly to uncertainty over data-centre demand. Some companies preparing IPOs are waiting until after Anthropic's debut, and some late-stage firms are timing private rounds to avoid it.

For OpenAI, a private round of this size serves two purposes. It funds a heavy infrastructure bill, and it sets a valuation marker before public-market investors get their first audited look at its main rival. If the round closes near $1.4 trillion, it would also give OpenAI a reference point in the debate over whether Anthropic deserves $1.5 trillion or $2 trillion.

What we don't know yet

The reporting leaves several points open. No investor has confirmed a commitment, and the Reuters account names only SoftBank and MGX as being in talks. The size, price and closing date could change, as the earlier Bloomberg-sourced report cautioned. The exact date of Anthropic's debut is also unclear: the republished Reuters text says mid-November, while one summary on Global Banking & Finance's page said late November. Neither company has released documents that settle the revenue-accounting dispute, so the competing growth figures remain claims rather than audited numbers.