OpenAI lowers fundraising target by $10 billion, valuation drops to $1.25 trillion

Related topics top start Related topics top end Futures promotion begin Futures promotion end Miaopai begin Miaopai end Video player start Video player end Market chart begin Market chart end

OpenAI has cut its latest funding target by $10 billion and is racing to finalize the financing. A sell-off in AI stocks in public markets, combined with the imminent listing of its top rival Anthropic, is putting pressure on the funding process.

The ChatGPT developer had originally planned last month to raise $30 billion at a valuation of $1.4 trillion, saying it was investors' last chance to buy in before its IPO next year. OpenAI said revenue has grown rapidly since July, supporting a valuation that has nearly doubled from $852 billion.

But as technology stocks suffered a brutal decline and concerns intensified over the scale of AI spending and the pace of returns, OpenAI lowered its funding target. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index fell 3.5% on Friday.

Several people familiar with the matter said OpenAI now plans to raise about $20 billion at a valuation of $1.25 trillion.

The company has set a deadline requiring investors to complete their funding commitments by Friday. Some investors have reduced their subscriptions for this round, and the "first closing" is expected to bring in less than $20 billion, the people said.

A consortium of several UAE investment institutions, including the state-owned technology fund MGX, will be the largest investor in this round, the people added. As part of the deal, OpenAI will gain the option to lease newly built computing resources in the region.

Venture capital firms including Founders Fund, Coatue, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, also plan to participate in this round, the people said.

A retail placement for wealthy individual investors will follow, allowing investors to buy in at a valuation of $1.25 trillion and potentially pushing the total for this round to around $20 billion, one person familiar with the matter said.

OpenAI completed a $122 billion funding round in March this year, but plans to spend several times that amount to procure computing power for model training and operation.

Anthropic is set to list next month at a target valuation of no less than $1.5 trillion, drawing substantial capital and market attention, and OpenAI must also compete with it for visibility.

OpenAI, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund and SoftBank all declined to comment. MGX and Andreessen Horowitz did not immediately respond to requests for comment. news_keyword_pub,usstock,.IXIC&SFTBY iframe below body iframe below body General statement General statement QR code at end start QR code at end start

QR code at end start QR code at end start Editor name and work code

Editor name and work code