OpenAI trims valuation target to $1.25T as investors wait for Anthropic’s IPO
Tech Funding News Abhinaya Prabhu ● Covered by 6 sources
OpenAI cut its target valuation to $1.25T as it seeks up to $30B. Some investors want to wait for Anthropic’s IPO before paying up.
Based on reporting by Tech Funding News, Abhinaya Prabhu — read the original for the full story.
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OpenAI is asking investors to accept a lower price than it first floated. The ChatGPT maker is now targeting a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation for a round of up to $30 billion, down from the $1.4 trillion figure shown earlier this month, the Financial Times reported. If the full amount comes in, the post-money valuation would land around $1.28 trillion. Investors have until October 30 to decide.
That shift does not mean the market has fallen apart. It does, though, show that the easy money phase around frontier AI is getting a little less easy. Morgan Stanley and Dragoneer had presented the higher number to private wealth clients, according to documents seen by the FT. Now Coatue and funds from the United Arab Emirates are said to be discussing leading the round, and the deal could come in below $30 billion if demand is softer than hoped. OpenAI declined to comment.
The company has already been living at extreme scale. It raised $40 billion in March 2025, then another record $122 billion in March 2026 at an $852 billion post-money valuation, and later closed a $7 billion tender offer at the same level. Even after this cut, the new target sits about 47% above that valuation. But some backers, having already written very large checks, are reportedly feeling some fatigue.
Anthropic is the reason the mood has changed. It raised $65 billion at a $965 billion post-money valuation in May 2026, then filed for an IPO. Harrison Rolfes of PitchBook called that a “free option” for OpenAI investors: watch how public markets price audited frontier AI numbers before committing again. Jimmy Chang of Rockefeller Global Family Office, which is exposed to both companies, put it bluntly: the market wants to see a successful IPO, because these companies still need funding.
The money question sits next to a compute question. J.P. Morgan Global Research projects AI capital spending could hit $900 billion in 2026 and $5.5 trillion cumulatively by 2030. The reported OpenAI terms also include a right of first refusal on new computing power built by its UAE partners, which would help secure scarce capacity. The lower valuation is not a collapse. It is a sign that even at trillion-dollar numbers, investors still want proof before they pay more.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is what happens when hype meets a spreadsheet. OpenAI can still raise absurd sums, but the market is no longer pretending every AI cheque deserves a standing ovation. The real trophy now is not the biggest valuation; it’s getting someone else to blink first, preferably after an IPO does the awkward price discovery for everyone.
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