OpenAI secures $11 billion toward a funding round valuing it at $1.25 trillion

What happened

OpenAI has secured $11 billion so far in a new fundraising that puts the AI lab's valuation at $1.25 trillion, TechCrunch reported, citing a Friday report from Bloomberg based on people familiar with the matter. The money is one portion of a broader round that has not yet closed. TechCrunch said it had asked OpenAI for comment.

According to Bloomberg, the round is expected to be completed within the next few weeks, and one source put its likely total at roughly $20 billion. That would leave it well below the $30 billion that Bloomberg said in late September OpenAI was aiming to raise in this round.

Hours earlier, Bloomberg reported that prospective buyers of shares in the planned IPO of Anthropic, OpenAI's main rival, are weighing a much lower valuation than the company had sought. Some of those buyers think Anthropic could be valued at as little as $1.1 trillion, versus the $2 trillion investors were reportedly expecting about a month ago.

Context

OpenAI earlier hinted it would list its shares this year before pushing those plans back, and a public offering is now expected at some point next year. The broader AI market has turned nervous: a Democratic landslide in the U.S. midterm elections and strongly negative voter views of data centers have unsettled investors, many of whom anticipate regulatory hurdles ahead.