Thursday · October 1, 2026

 ·  Daily  ·  Newsletters

Resonance network: Quantum InsiderSpace Insider

OpenAI Eyes $30B Pre-IPO Round at $1.4T Valuation

a square object with a knot on it

OpenAI is in talks with investors to raise at least $30 billion in a pre-IPO funding round that would value the ChatGPT maker at roughly $1.4 trillion, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. If completed, the raise would serve as a bridge round ahead of the company’s anticipated public market debut next year.

Investor appetite has been fueled by strong growth. Although Anthropic briefly outpaced OpenAI earlier this year, a strategic refocus on key areas such as coding has driven a 70% jump in OpenAI’s run-rate revenue since July, reaching $40 billion in August, according to the report.

The talks follow OpenAI’s $122 billion raise in March at an $852 billion valuation, which had been expected to be its final private round before an IPO planned for this year. CEO Sam Altman has since ruled out a 2026 listing in order to prioritize AI safety.

Responding to warnings from safety researchers that AI poses an existential risk to humanity, Altman recently told Fortune that accepting even a 10% chance of AI killing everyone by the end of the decade would be unacceptable.

James Dargan
About the author
James Dargan

James Dargan is a writer and researcher at The AI Insider. His focus is on the AI startup ecosystem and he writes articles on the space that have a tone accessible to the average reader.

Trending today

Physical AI

Inbolt Raises $12.5M in Funding to Expand AI Vision for Industrial Robots

a square object with a knot on it
Policy & Government · AI Safety

OpenAI Launches Misalignment Reports Site, Scraps Astra 6.1 Release and Apologizes to Australia Over Agent Breaches

a purple and green background with intertwined circles
Technology & Infrastructure · Models & LLMs

OpenAI DevDay Turns ChatGPT Into a Hub for Agents, Apps and Office Work

Physical AI · Humanoids

Dyna Robotics Launches New Robot for Full-Shift Work

Business & Markets · Enterprise

Shopify Opens Checkout to Browser-Based AI Agents as Rivals Block Agentic Shopping

The AI economy, every weekday morning

The daily briefing on LinkedIn. Free, one tap to follow.

Exclusives

Exclusive

South Korea’s AI G3 Strategy: Decoded

Scale-ups to Watch

10 Switzerland-Based AI Scale-Ups You Need to Know in 2026

network, blockchain, digital, hand, web, community, artificial, intelligence, steering, interfaces, bokeh, future, digitization, transformation, change, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, blockchain, transformation
Exclusive

Why Crypto Could Be AI’s Payment Layer: BlackRock Sees Stablecoins Connecting Commerce and Compute

AI Predictions
Exclusive

Why AI Predictions Often Get The Technology Right But The Timeline Wrong

Scale-ups to Watch

10 CEE & Baltics-Based AI Scale-Ups You Need to Know in 2026

More in Business & Markets

Latest from the same section
Business & Markets · Startups

Restate Closes $20M Series A as AI Agents Drive Demand for Durable Workflows

3 hours ago
Business & Markets

GMI Cloud Raises Over $660M to Accelerate Global AI Infrastructure Expansion

3 hours ago
Business & Markets

ElevenLabs Doubles Valuation to $22B Through $300M Employee Tender Offer

3 hours ago
Business & Markets · Enterprise

Airbnb Introduces AI Search as Brian Chesky Bets on Cautious, Conversion-Focused Rollout

3 hours ago

The AI economy, every weekday morning

The daily briefing plus the weekly Scale-ups to watch edition. Free, no spam, unsubscribe any time.