Sources: investors recently approached OpenAI with a proposal to invest at a $1.2T valuation, but OpenAI believes its value should be at least $1.5T (Sri Muppidi/New York Times)

OpenAI is engaged in secret talks with major investors to secure a private funding round that could increase its valuation to a staggering $1.2 trillion. This comes shortly after the company raised $122 billion in committed capital during a funding round in March, which pushed its valuation to $852 billion. CEO Sam Altman has previously stated that OpenAI will postpone a potential IPO in 2026 due to concerns around AI safety.

Both OpenAI and its rival Anthropic are pushing for stricter regulatory controls on AI to ensure its development prioritizes safety and mitigates risks. While OpenAI has recently achieved annualized revenues exceeding $40 billion, largely driven by a 20% increase following the launch of GPT-5.6, the company has also incurred significant expenses, around $34 billion, for data centers and computational resources.

Rival Anthropic is also considering a public offering, which adds to the intense competition in the AI market. OpenAI is still contemplating a 2027 IPO timeline, as leadership focuses on implementing stringent safety measures and infrastructure readiness before going public. Staying private places an alternative path for OpenAI to raise further funds from private investors before an eventual IPO, as demonstrated by its $110 billion investment round in February 2026, led by SoftBank and Nvidia, with Amazon contributing $50 billion.

This approach allows OpenAI to maintain greater control over its valuation and potentially engage in more transparent shareholder transactions.