OpenAI has lowered the amount it hopes to raise in its new funding round to about $20bn, down from the $30bn it first sought, according to a Financial Times report published on Friday 30 October. The FT said the first close is expected to come in below that figure. We found no statement from OpenAI confirming the numbers, and the reports rely on unnamed sources.

What has been reported

The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI has raised less than half of its $30bn goal, and TechCrunch, summarising that reporting, put the amount at about $11bn. The Journal also described the response from some existing backers as lukewarm. Earlier this month the company was reported to have trimmed the valuation it was asking for to $1.25tn, from $1.4tn. According to The Next Web, UAE investors are expected to lead the round, with Coatue also involved and the Abu Dhabi fund MGX reported to be in talks. TechCrunch notes that a retail offering is possible.

The FT linked the pullback to the market. Some investors reportedly reduced their commitments as AI shares sold off, amid worries about how much is being spent on infrastructure.

The numbers in context

OpenAI is not short of money by any ordinary measure. In March it closed a round of $122bn at a post-money valuation of $852bn, reported by CNBC, with SoftBank among the leads. SoftBank said on 1 October that it had completed a $30bn follow-on investment, taking its total to $64.6bn for roughly 13% of the company.

What is different is the price and the pace. The $1.25tn valuation, itself the lowered ask, is about 47% above March’s $852bn post-money figure. The new round was pitched as a bridge to a stock market listing that, according to The Next Web, the company’s finance chief has said will happen in 2027. The same report says OpenAI has told investors it plans about $600bn of compute spending by 2030. A smaller cheque from the market means more of that bill falls on a few large holders.

Why it matters on this side of the Channel

For European and UK investors, the practical issue is mark-to-market. Many funds, pension schemes and sovereign investors hold AI exposure through late-stage vehicles, secondaries or listed holdings. When the biggest private AI company cannot fill a round at the first price it names, that price becomes a weaker reference point for everyone else, including smaller model and tooling businesses raising at multiples set by the leader.

For founders, the effect is likely to show up in negotiations rather than headlines. A later-stage investor who has watched this round take longer than planned has reason to ask harder questions about revenue quality, compute commitments and how much of a valuation depends on a future listing. Companies that rely on a sequence of ever-larger rounds should plan for a slower one. This is our reading of the situation; none of the reports quote European investors on the subject.

It also underlines how concentrated the funding is. When a handful of sovereign and strategic backers carry a round of this size, a change in mood at one of them can move the whole outcome.

What to watch

  • Whether OpenAI announces a first close, and at what size and valuation.
  • Whether the retail element reported by TechCrunch goes ahead.
  • SoftBank’s results on 10 November, which should show the effect of its OpenAI position.
  • The timing of the 2027 listing, and whether other AI companies move to market first.

Sources

Photo: Sam Altman, by Village Global, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.