OpenAI Seeks $30 Billion at $1.4 Trillion Value, 64% Above March Round
News Summary
OpenAI is reportedly in early talks to raise at least $30 billion from investors at a valuation of about $1.4 trillion, according to reports that emerged on September 29, 2026 (Eastern Time). The round would arrive just months after the company closed a $122 billion raise at an $852 billion valuation in March 2026, and it is expected to be the last private financing before a public listing that has now slipped to 2027.
What Was Reported
Bloomberg reported the fundraising talks on September 29, 2026, and TechCrunch and several financial outlets followed the same day and on September 30 (Eastern Time). The reports say the target is at least $30 billion, with the valuation landing around $1.4 trillion. The discussions are described as preliminary, which means the size, price and list of participants could still change. The reports did not name specific investors, though they said multiple investors are interested in taking part.
If completed at the reported level, the valuation would be roughly 64% higher than the $852 billion figure set in March 2026. That makes it one of the steepest step-ups for a private technology company of this size.
A Bridge Round Before a Public Debut
The proposed financing is being framed as a pre-IPO bridge. OpenAI had earlier been expected to pursue a public offering in 2026, but chief executive Sam Altman said earlier in September that the company would not go public this year. He pointed to heightened attention on AI safety and the challenge of adapting to increasingly capable systems as reasons to move more deliberately. A 2027 listing is now the working assumption.
For readers new to corporate finance, a bridge round is a financing that carries a company from one milestone to the next, here from the March raise to a public market debut. It lets a company keep funding expensive research and infrastructure without being tied to the timing of the stock market.
The Revenue Picture
Axios reported on September 29, 2026 (Eastern Time) that OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate is approaching $70 billion, up more than 70% since the start of the third quarter of 2026. Axios also said business-to-business revenue has grown more than 100% over the same period, and that on the consumer side OpenAI added more revenue in the third quarter than in all of 2025.
One note on figures: TechCrunch's summary cites a run-rate of about $40 billion in August 2026, while Axios and other outlets put the latest number near $70 billion. These are different snapshots taken weeks apart, and run-rate (the current period's revenue multiplied out to a full year) is not the same as audited revenue, so readers should treat both as company-sourced estimates rather than finalized accounts.
Coverage also attributes part of the recent acceleration to a renewed focus on coding products. Reports add that rival Anthropic had temporarily moved ahead of OpenAI earlier in 2026, so the competitive race among frontier AI labs remains tight.
Why Valuations Like This Matter for AI
Training and serving frontier AI models requires very large amounts of computing hardware, data center capacity and electricity. Funding rounds at this scale mostly translate into long-term compute commitments and research budgets. A $1.4 trillion valuation implies investors expect revenue to keep compounding for years, which is a bet on both continued model improvement and broad adoption by businesses and consumers worldwide.
The valuation would also put OpenAI among the most valuable companies in the world by private-market pricing, which is why the proposed 2027 listing is being watched closely as a test of how public markets price AI infrastructure and software.
What to Watch Next
Key open questions include which investors join the round, whether the final valuation stays near $1.4 trillion, how the company describes its use of proceeds, and when it files confidentially or publicly for its 2027 offering. Because the talks are early, none of these details should be treated as settled until the company or participating investors confirm them.
Sources Consulted
Coverage cross-checked for this report includes TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Axios, Yahoo Finance, CoinDesk, Investing.com and other financial news outlets, all published between September 29 and September 30, 2026.