Exclusive-OpenAI seeks to accelerate fundraising ahead of Anthropic IPO, sources say

NEW YORK, Oct 19 : OpenAI is moving quickly to get promises from investors before its rival Anthropic is expected to go public in mid-November, according to two people who know about the matter. The fast fundraising effort could value the company behind ChatGPT at more than $1.4 trillion.

The quick schedule is partly meant to help OpenAI raise money before Anthropic does, as both companies are increasingly seeking money from many of the same investors, the people said. OpenAI also wants to make use of its recent revenue growth after launching new models. SoftBank Group, MGX, based in Abu Dhabi, and other investors who already support OpenAI are discussing joining a funding round worth about $30 billion, one of the people said.

The faster fundraising plan shows how closely the two AI companies are competing to raise money. Both are aiming for values of more than $1 trillion. At the same time, investors are increasingly worried about higher interest rates, sharp changes in technology stock prices and whether AI companies are worth as much as they claim.

Last week, OpenAI met with investment funds that mainly hold stocks for the long term and with government-owned investment funds. Anthropic held its own investor day during the same period. OpenAI's fundraising round is expected to move faster than a deal of this size usually would, the people said.

Investors who know the company say OpenAI also needs money to pay for its large infrastructure plans and strengthen its finances if a weaker market for initial public offerings (IPOs) delays its planned 2027 stock market listing even further.

There is strong investor interest in both companies. But investors must decide how to divide their money between two complicated, competing investment opportunities that may come to market only days or weeks apart. Some investors see OpenAI's effort to raise money quickly as a way to secure funds from investors who might otherwise put more money 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 HEAD OFF COMPARISONS

OpenAI is telling investors that its growth sped up after it launched its GPT-6 Astra model. It says its yearly 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 cheaper models. The company says this has led to more use of its products. It has also told investors that it can reduce AI model prices even further, the person said.

Anthropic's yearly revenue rate reached about $65 billion by July, Reuters reported earlier. The company told investors that its quarterly revenue rose from $11.6 billion in the second quarter of this year to $16.8 billion in the third quarter. However, its revenue has been growing more slowly from month to month, raising concerns among investors about its value.

One person said OpenAI wants to finish raising money before Anthropic releases financial details that give investors a clearer view of its business and encourage comparisons between the two companies.

The new financial details could lead investors to ask OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar for more information about revenue growth and the company's financial outlook, the person added. OpenAI reports revenue after subtracting partners' shares of the money at the start. It has accused Anthropic of making its revenue look larger 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 comp (comparison)," said Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Best 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, after raising a record $122 billion. That funding round included a promise from Amazon.com to invest up to $50 billion in the company.

The Financial Times previously reported some details of OpenAI's possible fundraising round.

IPO PLANS HIT BY MARKET JITTERS

Bankers and investors said several companies preparing to go public have decided to wait until after Anthropic's planned IPO. They are worried about competing for investors' money while markets are unstable and investors are pulling back from AI stocks. Some companies that are already well established but have not yet gone public are also planning private fundraising rounds to avoid the same period as 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 the $2 trillion it wants. This follows third-quarter results from the AI startup that were weaker than expected, Reuters reported last week.

Markets have been unstable since September. Changing oil prices, rising bond yields and growing concerns about AI safety have made investors less willing to put money into technology stocks. Investors are also taking a closer look at the cost of AI infrastructure, including the debt used to pay for the data centers that support the industry's growth.

Cloud computing company CoreWeave is at the center of recent concerns. Its shares and debt fell sharply last week as investors examined the nearly $50 billion it borrowed to fund its rapid expansion.

This uncertainty has disrupted what many expected to be a busy autumn for IPOs. Companies are reviewing their plans to go public because markets are unstable and there are concerns about company 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 said there was a "perfect storm," mainly because of uncertainty about demand from data centers, when it withdrew its planned US stock market listing last month.

Companies in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which is widely used to track demand for chips linked to AI, have lost $1.6 trillion in market value in less than two weeks. Companies that build AI infrastructure have faced especially strong pressure.