OpenAI explores $1.2 trillion funding round and delays IPO target to 2027

If the numbers are even roughly right, OpenAI is trying to convince investors that it deserves a valuation on par with the largest US tech platforms while still losing tens of billions of dollars a year. The TMTPost analysis makes clear that a $1.2 trillion mark implies revenue multiples north of 30x, underwritten by an assumption that AI capex will keep compounding and that IPO investors will tolerate years of negative free cash flow while the company pushes toward 30 GW of compute by 2030.([en.sedaily.com](https://en.sedaily.com/international/2026/09/16/openai-seeks-funding-at-12-trillion-value-even-as-it-urges?utm_source=openai))

For the AGI race, this is a declaration that OpenAI intends to stay in maximum‑acceleration mode. Locking in another giant private round at that valuation would help fund multi‑gigawatt datacentres, GPU contracts and top‑tier talent, reducing the chance that liquidity constraints force a slowdown. But it also ties OpenAI’s strategic decisions even more tightly to capital markets: pacing, safety and openness will all be filtered through the need to justify unprecedented growth assumptions. The analysis also highlights that Anthropic’s enterprise revenue may already be overtaking OpenAI’s, which could pressure OpenAI to take bigger technical and product swings to defend its narrative. A failed or down‑round IPO after a private raise at $1.2 trillion would not just hurt OpenAI; it could poison the well for all frontier labs.