November 02, 2026 – The ChatGPT maker now seeks about $20 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, a report says, as AI stocks slide and Anthropic heads for a listing.
In Summary
OpenAI reportedly cut its funding target to about $20 billion from $30 billion and its valuation goal to $1.25 trillion from $1.4 trillion.
The revised price still sits about 47% above the $852 billion valuation OpenAI set in March.
At OpenAI’s last disclosed pace of $2 billion a month, $1.25 trillion equals about 52 times annual sales, Catenaa calculates.
Anthropic’s IPO filing and a 7.8% Nasdaq pullback now give investors live benchmarks for AI pricing.
OpenAI funding round shrinks by a third
OpenAI funding plans just got smaller. The ChatGPT maker has cut its target for a new round to about $20 billion. It had sought $30 billion, according to a report published on October 30. That is a cut of $10 billion, or one third. The target valuation also fell, to $1.25 trillion from $1.4 trillion. Put simply, the price tag is $150 billion lower.
Investors faced a Friday deadline to commit. Some trimmed their allocations, so the first close may land below $20 billion, the report said. A later offer to wealthy individuals at the same price could lift the total. So far, OpenAI has not published a statement on the revised terms.
The price still marks a steep climb
Even after the cut, the new price is a big step up. That matters for anyone tracking OpenAI funding. OpenAI closed a $122 billion round at an $852 billion post-money valuation on March 31. A $1.25 trillion price sits about 47% above that level. By comparison, the original $1.4 trillion goal implied a gain of roughly 64%.
The longer arc is even sharper. OpenAI raised $6.6 billion at a $157 billion valuation in October 2024. Six months later, it raised $40 billion at $300 billion. In other words, the target is now about eight times the 2024 level.
Who is still at the table
The report named several likely backers. A UAE group that includes state-backed MGX could be the largest. In return, OpenAI would gain an option to lease new computing capacity in the region. Founders Fund, Coatue, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz also plan to join, alongside SoftBank.
Demand from rich clients looks softer, though. Morgan Stanley and Dragoneer pitched the deal to the bank’s clients at a $1.4 trillion pre-money valuation. However, the response fell well short of earlier rounds, the report said. In March, by contrast, individuals put in more than $3 billion through bank channels.
Revenue sets the bar for OpenAI funding
The math hinges on sales, which OpenAI rarely shares in full. In March, the company said it earned about $2 billion a month. It also counted more than 900 million weekly ChatGPT users and over 50 million subscribers. Meanwhile, enterprise clients made up more than 40% of revenue.
Over a full year, that pace equals about $24 billion. On that basis, a $1.25 trillion price equals roughly 52 times sales, Catenaa calculates. OpenAI has argued that growth since July supports a higher mark, according to the report. Still, it has not shared newer numbers in public.
Anthropic and a jittery market
Rival Anthropic adds pressure. It filed for a Nasdaq listing on October 26 under the ticker ANT. The filing shows first-half 2026 revenue of $16.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Notably, Anthropic last raised money at a $965 billion valuation in May.
Public markets also turned rough. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.86% to 25,437.00 on October 30, Nasdaq data show. That left the index 7.8% below its October 6 record close. As a result, late-stage buyers now have a daily gauge for AI prices.
What to watch next
The coming weeks will test the new price. First, investors will watch whether the first close clears $20 billion. Next, the Anthropic offering will show what public buyers will pay for an AI lab. Finally, finance chief Sarah Friar told staff she sees an IPO window in 2027, the report said. For now, OpenAI funding talks show that even top AI names face tougher buyers.
