OpenAI seeks a trillion-dollar valuation, even as investors want to see the returns

Over the past few years, OpenAI has made artificial intelligence (AI) seem like something that will become part of everyday life. Now the company faces another big challenge: showing that its AI business can make enough money to support its huge costs.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is reportedly trying to raise as much as $30 billion in new investment. According to TechCrunch, which cited CNBC, the company wants to be valued at $1.25 trillion. This means investors would be putting a total value of $1.25 trillion on the company. The funding would come before OpenAI's expected stock market listing in 2027. If successful, the deal could make OpenAI the world's most valuable privately owned company.

But there has been an important change in the numbers. According to the Financial Times, OpenAI originally wanted a valuation of $1.4 trillion. It has now lowered that target because some investors thought the higher price was too much.

A $150 billion drop might not sound very important when a company is being valued at more than a trillion dollars. But it matters. Even at the new target of $1.25 trillion, OpenAI would be worth nearly 50% more than its current valuation of $852 billion, which was set during a funding round in March. Still, the lower target shows that even a leading AI company like OpenAI cannot expect investors to keep paying higher prices simply because they are excited about AI.

Investors are asking tougher questions

For much of the AI boom, the idea behind investing in AI companies was simple. Companies would buy more powerful computers, train better AI models, attract more users, and find new ways to earn money from those users. AI could become a huge market. Investors believed that the companies leading this market should be worth huge amounts of money.

Now investors are looking more closely at the costs. Technology stocks in the United States have faced another round of selling because investors are worried about whether the enormous amounts being spent on AI will bring in enough money. Building AI systems requires expensive data centres, advanced computer chips, electricity, and computing power. Few technology companies have ever needed to spend so much money. Companies must pay for much of this equipment and infrastructure long before they know how much money it will help them earn.

The Financial Times has also reported that some investors are getting tired of putting more money into AI companies after already investing very large amounts. OpenAI's reported decision to lower its valuation target shows this change in attitude. Investors still have money to invest, but they seem less willing to agree to every high price that AI companies ask for.

Revenue has reached $50 billion a year at its current pace, and it is still growing

OpenAI has a strong answer to these concerns. Its business is growing very quickly. Reports say its annualised revenue has reached $50 billion. Annualised revenue means the amount a company would earn over a full year if it kept making money at its current rate. This is a major business achievement for a company that became widely known when ChatGPT launched in late 2022. OpenAI earns money from people paying for subscriptions, businesses using its AI tools, and software developers building products with its AI models.

But bringing in money is only part of the story. OpenAI is still not profitable, and reports show that it is losing large amounts of money while running its business. According to figures mentioned in reports, OpenAI had operating losses of $20.9 billion in 2025, while its revenue was $13.1 billion. More recent reports suggest that its operating losses reached about $12.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026, compared with $9.3 billion in the first quarter. These numbers show how expensive it is to build and run the most advanced AI systems. However, the exact figures can differ between reports because estimates and accounting methods are not always the same.

The big question is whether OpenAI can grow its revenue faster than the cost of serving customers and building newer, better AI models. AI companies can attract millions of users and sign large contracts with businesses, but they may still have to spend enormous amounts of money on the computers and systems needed to provide their services. Having more customers and growing quickly does not automatically mean a company will be able to make steady profits over many years.

Will selling shares to the public change how investors see OpenAI?

OpenAI's plans to raise more money are also important because the company is getting closer to a possible stock market listing. A private funding round would give OpenAI another chance to raise money and pay for its plans to build more AI infrastructure before it has to share its financial results with a much larger group of investors. But if the company is valued at nearly $1.25 trillion, people will expect a great deal from it when it eventually holds an initial public offering, or IPO. An IPO is when a company first offers its shares for sale to the public.

People investing in publicly traded companies will want more than proof that customers use AI. They will want to know how well OpenAI keeps its customers, how much it can charge for its services, how much money remains after the direct costs of providing those services, how much it needs to spend on equipment and infrastructure, and how long it will take to become profitable. Investors will also be watching OpenAI's competitor Anthropic as it moves towards a possible stock market listing of its own. This would give them another AI company to compare with OpenAI when deciding how much leading AI businesses are worth.

For OpenAI, the next stage of competition may be just as much about financial numbers as it is about building better AI models. The company has already shown that AI can attract customers and change the way people work. Now it needs to prove that it can earn enough money to pay for the enormous cost of achieving its goals.

Reaching a trillion-dollar valuation would be a historic achievement. But keeping that value will be even harder. OpenAI must show that being a leader in AI can also create a strong, profitable business that is truly worth such a high price.