OpenAI is in early talks with investors about a new funding round that could value the artificial intelligence company at about $1.2 trillion, a move that would push its private-market price even higher as the company edges toward a future listing. The discussions were initiated by investors, not by OpenAI itself, and the figure could still change in the coming months, according to the Financial Times via Reuters. The timing matters: CEO Sam Altman said on Saturday the company would not go public in 2026, citing AI safety concerns.
A deal at roughly $1.2 trillion would mark a sharp step up from OpenAI’s March round, when the company closed on $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation, Reuters reported. That implies a gain of about 41%, according to TipRanks. For a private company already sitting near the top of the AI market narrative, the new round would signal that investors are still willing to pay up for access to the company’s model pipeline, user base and growing revenue before any IPO.
There is still no guarantee the round happens at that price. The FT’s report said the talks are early and the number may shift. OpenAI declined to comment on the report, Reuters said. That leaves the market with a familiar mix of appetite and uncertainty: heavy demand for the AI story, but little clarity on the exact terms until negotiations move further along.
Altman’s latest comments reinforce the idea that any public debut is still some distance away. Reuters reported that he said on Saturday the company would not go public in 2026 because of AI safety concerns. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times both now point to an IPO in 2027 rather than 2026. That pushes the timeline out, but it does not remove the pressure. OpenAI filed its IPO prospectus confidentially in June and has since pushed back the listing timeline, the FT reported.
That delay creates room for one more fundraising round. Bloomberg reported that any decision to proceed depends on when OpenAI decides to go public, and that extra funding could delay the IPO by one or two quarters. In practice, that means a bigger private round today could become a bridge to a later listing, rather than a substitute for one. For investors, the calculation is simple: pay more now for a larger slice of a company that is still growing fast, or wait and compete for shares after it becomes public.
The valuation debate is happening against a backdrop of rising sales. The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI’s revenue rose to $6.7 billion in the quarter ended June, up from $5.7 billion in the first quarter. That kind of growth helps explain why investors are willing to keep pushing the company’s private price higher. It also supports the argument that OpenAI can keep expanding before it has to face the disclosure demands and quarterly scrutiny of public markets.
Still, revenue growth alone does not settle the timing question. A company can be valuable and still choose to stay private longer if management thinks the public market is the wrong venue at the wrong time. Altman’s safety-focused explanation shows that OpenAI’s timeline is not only about capital needs. It is also about control, model risk and the company’s view of when it can comfortably shoulder the burdens of being public.
Bloomberg reported that additional funding could support more mergers and acquisitions, including the io and Astral acquisitions. That is important because a larger war chest does more than strengthen the balance sheet. It gives OpenAI more room to buy talent, technology and product capabilities before rivals can close the gap. In fast-moving AI markets, the ability to fund acquisitions can be as strategically valuable as the cash itself.
The company’s fundraising history suggests investors understand that dynamic. The March round at an $852 billion post-money valuation was already one of the most closely watched private financings in the market. A move to about $1.2 trillion would show that demand has not cooled. The FT, citing Reuters, said the discussions were initiated by investors, which implies that capital is chasing the company rather than the company hunting for cash on short notice. That distinction matters: it suggests the market still sees OpenAI as one of the central assets in AI.
For now, the likely message is that OpenAI is keeping the IPO option alive while stretching the runway. The confidential filing in June showed the company was preparing. The later pushback showed it is not ready to commit. The new round, if it materializes, would make that balancing act easier. More money can buy time, and time can help OpenAI expand before becoming a public company that must answer to shareholders every quarter.
That said, the delay is not open-ended. Reuters reported that Anthropic is expected to begin marketing its IPO as early as mid-October 2026, with a listing that could be completed days before the November US midterm elections. That creates a competitive backdrop for OpenAI, even if the companies are not direct public-market peers yet. If another major AI player gets to the market first, it could shape investor expectations, comparisons and appetite for the sector.
The larger takeaway is that private AI valuations are still climbing even as the sector matures. OpenAI is no longer being priced only on promise. It is being priced on revenue growth, product demand, capital intensity and the prospect of a public-market debut that may come later than originally expected. A $1.2 trillion price tag would be a statement that investors are still betting the company can keep widening the gap before it has to face public scrutiny.
But the same story also shows the tension at the center of the AI trade. OpenAI is raising money because it can, not because it has to. It is postponing an IPO because it says the time is not right. And it is doing both while revenue rises and competitors inch closer to their own market milestones. The next move will not be about whether OpenAI can attract capital. It will be about how long the market keeps granting it the luxury of waiting.
