OpenAI shifts value to US$1.25 tril as funding talks finalise — Bloomberg

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has lowered the value being discussed in its fundraising talks by US$150 billion, from US$1.4 trillion to US$1.25 trillion. This is according to people involved in the talks who asked not to be named because the details are private. The talks are still going on, and the details could change, they said.

OpenAI last raised US$122 billion in March. At that time, the company was valued at US$852 billion, including the money it raised.

Coatue Management is discussing plans to help lead the new fundraising round, according to the people. OpenAI has also been talking with several investment funds from the United Arab Emirates and other companies, including BlackRock Inc., as Bloomberg reported earlier.

OpenAI said it would not comment. Coatue did not immediately reply when asked for a comment.

OpenAI expects investors to confirm how much money they will provide by the end of next week, one person said.

CNBC had already reported that OpenAI was being valued at US$1.25 trillion.

Technology company shares have fallen this week. This happened after companies including Meta Platforms Inc. and Tesla Inc. reported mixed results for the past three months. The results made investors worry that companies may be spending too much money on artificial intelligence. Many investors are also watching OpenAI's competitor, Anthropic PBC. Anthropic is expected to sell shares to the public for the first time next month, and investors want to see how buyers respond.

OpenAI has delayed its own plans to sell shares to the public for the first time until next year. The company said it made this decision because it is focusing on making artificial intelligence safer.