By Hamza Faisal
OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments for a funding round of about $30 billion before rival Anthropic makes its expected public market debut in mid-November, according to two people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. The unusually fast fundraising could value the ChatGPT maker at over $1.4 trillion — setting up one of the most direct capital fights Silicon Valley has ever seen.
A race against the IPO calendar
The accelerated timetable is, at least in part, about getting ahead of Anthropic. The two frontier labs are increasingly tapping the same investor base, and OpenAI wants to lock in commitments before investors can put their money into Anthropic's stock. OpenAI reportedly held meetings with long-only funds and sovereign wealth funds last week — the same week Anthropic was hosting its own investor day.
SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, both existing OpenAI backers, are said to be in talks to join the round. The raise is expected to move faster than is typical for an offering of its size, as OpenAI looks to capitalize on revenue momentum following the launch of its newest models.
$50 billion, and climbing
OpenAI is pitching investors on an annualized revenue figure of about $50 billion, with an expectation of reaching $70 billion by year-end after the rollout of its GPT-6 Astra model. That revenue story underpins the leap in valuation: OpenAI was valued at $852 billion in March after raising $122 billion in committed funding, so a $1.4 trillion price tag would mark an increase of more than 60% in roughly seven months.
Some investors see the push as a defensive play as much as an offensive one. If Anthropic's IPO debuts with a trillion-dollar valuation and public financials, the comparisons become unavoidable — and OpenAI would rather set its own valuation now than be comped by a rival's earnings later.
Capital for the infrastructure buildout
Investors familiar with the company say OpenAI also needs the capital to fund its enormous infrastructure commitments, and as a cushion if softer IPO markets push back its own planned 2027 listing. "OpenAI could want to set its own valuation and not have to worry about a comp," said Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who is not involved in the deal.
Anthropic, meanwhile, reported quarterly revenue of $16.8 billion in the third quarter, up from $11.6 billion in the second — though slower monthly growth has some investors weighing a lower $1.5 trillion IPO valuation rather than the $2 trillion target. Neither round's terms are finalized, but with two trillion-dollar fundraises landing days or weeks apart, investors will have to pick how to split a historic wave of AI capital.
