OpenAI is considering a new funding round that would value the giant artificial intelligence startup at about $1.5 trillion in advance of its planned initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

If successful, it would roughly double OpenAI’s most recent private valuation of $730 billion, crowning the ChatGPT maker as the world’s most valuable privately held company.

The people familiar with the discussions, who requested anonymity to share details of the potential financing, stressed that no decisions had been made and that plans may change.

Investors recently approached OpenAI with a proposal to invest in the startup at a $1.2 trillion valuation, according to the people. But OpenAI believes it should be given a value of at least $1.5 trillion based on increased customer traction with its coding tool Codex and its latest AI models, GPT-6 Astra and GPT-5.6 Sol, according to the people.

OpenAI generated more than $40 billion in annualized revenue last month, roughly double its sales figure at the end of last year.

The ChatGPT maker expects to go public next year. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said that the company delayed its IPO to focus on safety risks from AI, though the company had already shelved its plan for a 2026 public offering to shore up its finances.

One consideration for OpenAI as it considers the new round of financing is that the startup already confidentially filed its draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June. It will need to carefully navigate securities laws when sharing confidential information with investors.

OpenAI has raised more than $180 billion since its founding in 2015. In its most recent round, the company brought in a record $122 billion at a $730 billion valuation before adding the new capital raised.

Its rival, Anthropic, is making preparations to go public this fall in what could be the world’s largest public offering. The startup, whose chief executive is Dario Amodei, could raise more than $100 billion at a $2 trillion valuation. Anthropic’s business has surged ahead of OpenAI recently, with the startup increasing its annualized revenue to roughly $65 billion at the end of the second quarter.

The Financial Times previously reported some details of the company’s potential fundraising.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Sri Muppidi/Jason Henry
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