FT: OpenAI Is Considering a Funding Round at a $1.2 Trillion Valuation Ahead of an IPO

• OpenAI held initial talks with major investors about a new round of private funding.
• The company could raise capital at a valuation of around $1.2 trillion, but the talks are at an early stage.

OpenAI has held initial discussions with major investors about another round of private funding. If a deal goes ahead, the company’s valuation could rise to around $1.2 trillion, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Journalists noted that the new round could allow the company to capitalize on strong demand for its technology following the release of new artificial intelligence models.

At the same time, the talks are at an early stage, so the proposed valuation could change over the coming months, the statement said.

According to one FT source, the decision to proceed with a private round and its timing will depend on when OpenAI decides to become a public company. The talks were initiated by investors, not by OpenAI itself.

When could OpenAI go public?

Previously, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company does not plan to go public in 2026. He cited, among other things, concerns about artificial intelligence safety.

At the same time, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said during a meeting with employees that the company could become public by the end of 2027 or earlier. According to her, OpenAI does not plan to compete with Anthropic to be first to list.

Recently, the tech community has been increasingly discussing a forced slowdown in the field of artificial intelligence. In particular, OpenAI Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki suggested that the pace of developing advanced AI systems will have to be reduced. In his view, existing oversight tools and safety measures are no longer sufficient to keep scaling model capabilities at the previous pace. In this context, he called for unified, mandatory safety standards across the entire industry.

At the same time, an alliance of 156 companies led by OpenAI appealed to governments, businesses, and the tech community, calling on them to join forces to strengthen cybersecurity. Experts warn that in the coming months, hacker attacks using artificial intelligence will become significantly larger in scale, more complex, and more sophisticated.

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