OpenAI Is Racing To Raise $30 Billion Before Anthropic's IPO. Its Valuation Could Cross $1.4 Trillion.

OpenAI is moving faster to raise about $30 billion from investors before its rival Anthropic is expected to go public in November. The fundraising effort could value the company behind ChatGPT at more than $1.4 trillion. This means the competition between the two artificial intelligence companies is also spreading to the stock market.

OpenAI is trying to get investors to promise funding before Anthropic's expected initial public offering (IPO) in mid-November, Reuters reported Tuesday. The report cited two people who know about the matter. Both companies want money from many of the same large investors, putting pressure on each company to secure funding before the other does.

SoftBank Group, investment firm MGX, which is based in Abu Dhabi, and other investors who already support OpenAI are discussing whether to take part in the new funding round, according to the report. OpenAI met with long-term investment funds and government-owned investment funds last week. At the same time, Anthropic was giving its own presentation to investors.

These talks are happening just months after OpenAI completed one of the largest private funding rounds ever recorded. In March, the company announced that investors had committed $122 billion, giving it a value of $852 billion after the funding, according to its official funding announcement.

A value of more than $1.4 trillion would be at least 64% higher than that earlier valuation. However, the latest fundraising plans are still being discussed.

OpenAI is giving investors an updated view of its business after releasing its GPT-6 Astra model, which the company says has helped its revenue grow faster.

The company has reached an annualized revenue rate of about $50 billion and expects that rate to rise to $70 billion by the end of 2026, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with discussions with investors.

Annualized revenue is an estimate of how much a company would earn in a year if its recent sales continued at the same pace. It is not the same as money the company has already earned over a complete year. OpenAI's latest figures have not been independently confirmed through public financial reports.

OpenAI has also been advertising lower prices for some of its AI models to encourage more people to use them. In September, OpenAI announced that it was cutting API prices for its GPT-6 Sol and Luna models by 50% compared with the promotional prices for their earlier GPT-5.6 versions.

These changes followed the release of GPT-6 Astra. OpenAI introduced the model in September, saying it had improved abilities for writing software, using computers and doing professional work.

Anthropic has also reported strong revenue growth. Its revenue for the third quarter reached $16.8 billion, up from $11.6 billion in the second quarter, according to financial information shown to investors and reported by Reuters.

The company that makes Claude had reached an annualized revenue rate of about $65 billion by July. However, its growth from one month to the next has slowed, raising questions among some investors about how much the company should be worth.

Some investors have argued that Anthropic should go public at a value closer to $1.5 trillion instead of the $2 trillion it had previously sought. This followed third-quarter financial results that were below expectations, Reuters reported last week.

OpenAI is aiming to go public in 2027, but it also faces large financial commitments. These costs are linked to the infrastructure it needs to train and run advanced AI systems.

According to Reuters, OpenAI has told potential investors that new funding would help it pay these costs and improve its financial position if a weaker stock market delays its own IPO.

Worries about borrowing costs and the huge amount of money needed to build AI infrastructure have already affected companies whose businesses are linked to the sector.

CoreWeave, a company that provides cloud computing services for AI, has faced more questions about its expansion, which relies on borrowed money. Its shares and bonds came under pressure last week as investors took another look at the risks of borrowing to pay for large data centers.

Uncertainty has also affected other planned stock market listings. Blackstone-backed AirTrunk REIT, Nvidia-backed Firmus and SoftBank-backed SB Energy have either delayed or canceled their plans to go public, Reuters reported.

Several companies preparing to enter the stock market have decided not to compete directly with Anthropic's expected IPO for investors' money.

Both AI companies are continuing to expand their businesses before their possible stock market listings. On October 18, Anthropic announced plans to put an initial 5% of its shares into a new public benefit fund, subject to approval by its stockholders. The fund is intended to support projects that address the effects of artificial intelligence.