OpenAI raises $11 billion, far short of $30 billion target

Key Points

1. OpenAI has secured roughly $11 billion so far, less than half its original $30 billion fundraising goal.
2. The round values the ChatGPT maker at $1.25 trillion, below the $1.4 trillion valuation it had sought.
3. The shortfall lands weeks before a planned listing and as rival Anthropic posts faster revenue growth.

The latest:

OpenAI has collected about $11 billion in commitments for its latest funding round, less than half the $30 billion it initially targeted, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. The financing values the company at $1.25 trillion, short of the $1.4 trillion it had hoped for. The company told shareholders it expects to seek more money in the coming weeks.

Details:

• The shortfall: After what people familiar with the matter described as tepid interest from some large investors, OpenAI has so far locked in roughly $11 billion of the $30 billion it set out to raise, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company is now hoping to raise up to $20 billion in total, one of those people said.
• The valuation gap: The round prices OpenAI at $1.25 trillion, $150 billion below the $1.4 trillion valuation it had earlier aimed for. The Financial Times reported before the Journal that the company had cut its funding target.
• The new pitch: OpenAI told shareholders it plans to go back out in the coming weeks and target family offices and high-net-worth individuals rather than rely on the large institutional investors that passed, the people said. No closing date for the extended round was disclosed.
• The IPO clock: The fundraising difficulties arrive as OpenAI prepares to go public as soon as early next year, according to the Journal. The company has not set a listing date.
• Market backdrop: The round is being marketed during a severe tech selloff tied to disappointing earnings from Google, Amazon and Intel. Investors have grown more nervous about financing the artificial-intelligence buildout and more selective about which companies they back and on what terms, the Journal reported.
• The Anthropic gap: Rival Anthropic more than doubled revenue to $11.6 billion between the first and second quarters, while OpenAI grew sales roughly 18% to $6.7 billion over the same period. Anthropic turned a small operating profit in the second quarter; OpenAI’s operating losses deepened, the Journal has reported.
• Anthropic’s listing: Anthropic filed paperwork this week for a public listing expected next month, disclosing the revenue surge that made its Claude Code tool a front-runner in the AI boom. OpenAI is in the middle of a push to accelerate revenue growth and close that gap.
• One bright spot: Third-party data cited by the Journal shows OpenAI recently clawed back some market share from Anthropic after cutting prices on its latest models. The size of that recovery was not specified.
• Disclosure: News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a content-licensing partnership with OpenAI.

Between the lines:

Two signals point the same way. Institutional investors passed at $1.4 trillion, and OpenAI’s answer is to court family offices and wealthy individuals — a smaller, less price-sensitive pool. That shift, alongside a rival that is growing faster and already operating at a profit, suggests the pricing power in AI fundraising has moved toward the buyers.

What’s next

Watch whether OpenAI closes the extended round near its reduced $20 billion goal in the coming weeks, Anthropic’s listing expected next month, and whether OpenAI sets a date for its own early-2027 offering.

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