OpenAI seeks to accelerate fundraising ahead of Anthropic's planned IPO

OpenAI is moving quickly to secure promises of investment before rival Anthropic is expected to go public in mid-November. The unusually fast fundraising round could value the company behind ChatGPT at more than $1.4 trillion, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The fast schedule is partly driven by OpenAI's wish to raise money before Anthropic does. Both leading AI companies are increasingly seeking money from the same group of investors, the people said. OpenAI also wants to make the most of its recent revenue growth after releasing new AI models.

SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi-based MGX and other current OpenAI investors are discussing joining a fundraising round worth about $30 billion, one of the people said.

The faster fundraising plans show how closely the two AI developers are competing for investment as both aim for valuations of more than $1 trillion. This is happening as concerns grow about rising interest rates, sharp swings in technology stock prices and whether AI companies are worth as much as investors claim.

OpenAI met with investment funds that mainly hold stocks for the long term and government-backed investment funds last week, while Anthropic held its own investor event. OpenAI's fundraising round is expected to move faster than most deals of this size, the people said.

Investors familiar with OpenAI say the company also needs money to pay for its large infrastructure plans and strengthen its finances if a weaker IPO market delays its planned stock market listing in 2027.

There is strong demand for shares in both companies, but investors must decide how to judge and divide their money between two complex, competing investment opportunities that could arrive just days or weeks apart. Some investors see OpenAI's fundraising effort as a way to secure money from funds that might otherwise put more of their resources into Anthropic's IPO, the people said.

OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment. Anthropic and MGX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trying to avoid direct comparisons

OpenAI is telling investors that its growth sped up after it launched its GPT-6 Astra model. The company says its annual revenue rate has reached $50 billion and expects that figure to rise to $70 billion by the end of the year, according to one of the people.

OpenAI has also lowered prices for its less expensive models. The company says this has increased usage, and it has told investors that it can reduce AI model prices further, the person added.

Anthropic's annual revenue rate reached about $65 billion by July, Reuters reported earlier. Anthropic told investors that its quarterly revenue rose to $16.8 billion in the third quarter from $11.6 billion in the second quarter of this year. However, slower month-to-month revenue growth has raised concerns among investors about the company's valuation.

OpenAI wants to finish raising money before Anthropic releases financial information that gives investors a clearer picture of its business and encourages them to compare the two companies, one person said.

These disclosures could lead investors to ask OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar for more details about the company's revenue growth and financial outlook, the person added. OpenAI reports revenue after first subtracting the shares paid to its partners. It has accused Anthropic of overstating its revenue by counting the full value of contracts sold through outside cloud providers. Anthropic previously told Reuters that it follows accepted accounting rules.

"OpenAI could want to set its own valuation and not have to worry about a comparison," said Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. He is not working on the deal and was speaking about a possible situation. "It's really a two-horse race in terms of being public."

OpenAI was valued at $852 billion in March this year, following a record $122 billion fundraising round. The round included a commitment from Amazon.com, which agreed to invest up to $50 billion in the company.

The Financial Times previously reported some details about OpenAI's possible fundraising plans.

Market worries disrupt IPO plans

Several companies preparing to go public have decided to wait until after Anthropic's planned IPO. Bankers and investors said these companies are concerned about competing for investor money during market swings and a decline in AI stock prices. Some companies in the later stages of development are also scheduling private fundraising rounds to avoid the time of Anthropic's expected stock market debut, the bankers and investors said.

Some current and potential Anthropic investors have argued that the company should be valued closer to $1.5 trillion when it goes public, rather than its preferred $2 trillion. This follows third-quarter results that fell short of expectations, Reuters reported last week.

The change in expectations comes after an unstable market since September. Changes in oil prices, rising bond yields and growing worries about AI safety have reduced investors' willingness to buy technology stocks. Investors are also examining the cost of AI infrastructure, including the debt used to pay for the data centers behind the industry's rapid growth.

Cloud computing company CoreWeave is at the center of some of these concerns. Its shares and debt prices fell sharply last week as investors examined the nearly $50 billion it has borrowed to expand quickly.

The uncertainty has interrupted what was expected to be a busy autumn for IPOs. Companies are reviewing their plans to go public because of unstable markets and concerns about valuations. AirTrunk REIT, backed by Blackstone, Firmus, backed by Nvidia, and SB Energy, backed by SoftBank, have either withdrawn or paused their planned listings.

Nuclear services company Holtec cited a "perfect storm," mainly caused by uncertainty about demand for data centers, when it withdrew its planned US stock market listing last month.

Companies in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which is widely seen as a measure of demand for AI-related semiconductors, have lost $1.6 trillion in market value in less than two weeks. Companies that build AI infrastructure have faced especially strong pressure.