Breaking News: OpenAI Urges $28B (200B Yuan) Massive Financing to Compete Head-to-Head With Anthropic for Top Global Investors

According to a Zhidx report on October 20, Reuters reported that OpenAI is speeding up plans for a funding round of about $300 billion (around 2.016 trillion yuan). The company is aiming for a valuation of more than $1.4 trillion (around 9.41 trillion yuan). It hopes to secure investment before Anthropic's expected initial public offering (IPO) in mid-November. Two people familiar with the matter said that SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi's MGX and other existing investors are discussing whether to join the funding round.

This is no ordinary fundraising effort. The timeline is very tight, the target valuation is extremely high, and OpenAI is competing for money from the same group of investors as Anthropic.

01.

Why move first: targeting the same investors

The company that raises money first gains an advantage

OpenAI and Anthropic, two leading AI companies, are competing for investment from the same pool of backers. OpenAI held talks with investment funds that use different strategies and government-owned investment funds last week. Anthropic also held its own investor events during the same period. People familiar with the matter said OpenAI hopes to finish raising money before Anthropic shares financial details that give investors a clearer picture of its business. This could help OpenAI avoid having investors compare the two companies directly.

"OpenAI may want to set its own valuation without having to worry about comparable companies," said Edward Best, co-head of the Capital Markets practice at international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The firm works in more than 45 areas of law, including capital markets. Best is not involved in this deal and was speaking only about a possible explanation. "This is truly a two-horse listing race."

Some investors see OpenAI's effort to raise money early as a way to secure funds that might otherwise go mainly to Anthropic's IPO. In other words, whichever company completes its funding round first can secure some of the money that investors might otherwise give to its rival.

02.

The revenue race: $500 billion vs. $650 billion

But the two companies tell different growth stories

OpenAI told investors that growth sped up after it released GPT-6 Astra. Its revenue rate, based on the latest pace of business over a full year, reached $500 billion (around 3.36 trillion yuan). The company expects this figure to rise to $700 billion (around 4.704 trillion yuan) by the end of the year. OpenAI has also lowered prices for its cheaper models and said this has led to more use. It told investors that it may cut prices further.

According to earlier Reuters reports, Anthropic's annualized revenue reached about $650 billion (around 4.368 trillion yuan) in July. The company told investors that revenue rose to $168 billion in the third quarter from $116 billion in the second quarter. However, growth from one month to the next has slowed, raising concerns among investors about the company's valuation.

The two companies also use different methods to report revenue. OpenAI reports revenue after first subtracting the shares paid to its partners. It once accused Anthropic of counting the full amounts under contracts with third-party cloud service providers, which it said made Anthropic's revenue look larger than it really was. Anthropic previously told Reuters that it follows established accounting practices.

In other words, Anthropic says its method of reporting revenue follows common accounting practices in the industry and does not deliberately make its results look better. However, an established practice is not necessarily required by law or regulation. This difference is at the heart of OpenAI's criticism and explains why the two companies report revenue differently.

The numbers reflect two different stories about growth. OpenAI says its growth is speeding up, while Anthropic faces questions about slowing growth. When a company is setting a price for its IPO, the way it presents this story can directly affect how much investors are willing to pay for it.

03.

Market pressures: fewer chances to go public

AI stocks are facing pressure

OpenAI's rush to raise money also has a practical reason: the market for IPOs is cooling down.

According to Reuters reports last week, after Anthropic's third-quarter results fell short of expectations, some existing and potential investors said its IPO valuation should be closer to $1.5 trillion (around 10.08 trillion yuan), rather than the $2 trillion (around 13.44 trillion yuan) the company had expected. This reassessment came as markets have been unstable since September. Changing oil prices, rising bond yields and concerns about AI safety have made investors less interested in technology stocks.

Much of the latest concern centers on CoreWeave, a cloud service provider whose shares and bonds fell sharply last week. Investors are closely examining the nearly $500 billion in borrowing the company has used to expand quickly. This uncertainty has disrupted what was expected to be a busy autumn for IPOs. AirTrunk REIT, backed by Blackstone; Firmus, backed by NVIDIA; and SB Energy, backed by SoftBank, have all withdrawn or paused their plans to go public. Holtec, a company that provides nuclear energy services, withdrew its planned U.S. listing last month. It cited a "Perfect Storm" caused mainly by uncertainty about demand for data centers. This phrase referred to several pressures happening at once, including uncertain demand for data centers, unstable markets and falling AI stock prices, which together made it harder for companies to go public.

Companies included in the PHLX Semiconductor Index, which is widely seen as a key 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.

If the IPO market gets worse and delays OpenAI's planned 2027 listing, this private funding round could provide money to fall back on. People familiar with the matter said OpenAI also needs funds to meet its huge infrastructure spending commitments and strengthen its financial position.

04.

Conclusion: What lies behind the race for valuation

Investors are looking more closely at the quality of AI revenue

The main reason for OpenAI's funding round is not that it has run out of money, but that it is racing against time. Securing investment before Anthropic's IPO could help OpenAI avoid a direct comparison of the two companies' financial results by investors. It would also give OpenAI another way to raise money if the IPO market becomes more unstable.

OpenAI's target valuation of $1.4 trillion depends on whether the faster revenue growth following the release of GPT-6 Astra can continue. Meanwhile, Anthropic's sharp quarterly revenue increase, alongside slower growth, shows that the competition is far from over. Both companies are racing toward valuations of more than $1 trillion, but investors are looking more carefully at the cost of debt, profit margins and the quality of revenue earned by companies that build AI infrastructure.

Which company goes public first and which one secures funding first could affect which company has more influence in the next stage of the competition. The $300 billion that OpenAI is trying to raise early would buy it not just time, but also an advantage before market conditions change.

Source: Reuters

This article was published by the WeChat official account "Zhidx". Author: Li Zi. Editor: Yunpeng. Published with authorization from 36Kr.