OpenAI Cut Its Funding Round Valuation From $1.4 Trillion to $1.25 Trillion. Investors Pushed Back, and the Round Is Reportedly Down to $20 Billion.

On Thursday, October 22, 2026, CNBC reported that OpenAI was nearing a funding round of up to $30 billion, with its valuation set at $1.25 trillion before the new money comes in. UAE investors were reported to be leading, with Coatue in talks to co-lead. The Financial Times reported that the price had come down from $1.4 trillion after some investors pushed back on the higher number.

Then, on Saturday, October 31, TechCrunch reported that the round had shrunk again. It said the FT reported on Friday that OpenAI had lowered its funding target to $20 billion, with the first close expected to be lower still. We could not find a second outlet for the $20 billion figure. Treat it as reported, not confirmed.

The Price Came Down First

In early October, OpenAI was pitching a valuation of about $1.4 trillion. According to the FT, as summarized by Digg, the pitch went to private-wealth clients. Bloomberg reported at the time that OpenAI was seeking at least $30 billion at about that price, with UAE funds and BlackRock in talks, per Business Today and investingLive.

The $1.25 trillion figure is pre-money. It leaves out the new cash. If the full $30 billion arrives, the post-money value is about $1.28 trillion, a calculation investingLive also makes. The drop from $1.4 trillion is $150 billion, which Bloomberg described as a cut of that size, per The Next Web. That is about 10.7 percent off the earlier pitch, by our arithmetic.

For scale, OpenAI's last round closed in March: $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation, including the money. A round at $1.28 trillion post-money would put the company about 50 percent above that March mark.

Figures are as reported. The $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation and the up-to-$30 billion size come from CNBC's October 22 report as relayed by outlets that cite it. The $20 billion target comes from TechCrunch, citing the FT.

Then the Size Came Down

TechCrunch also reported, citing a Wall Street Journal account, that OpenAI had secured $11 billion so far, and that fundraising had drawn a lukewarm response from some large investors. We could not find the WSJ report. Until it is confirmed, the $11 billion figure is only an attributed claim.

OpenAI declined to comment to Bloomberg on the valuation, per The Next Web. TechCrunch says it reached out to OpenAI for comment on its report, and its article contains no response. OpenAI told investors on October 22 that it wanted signatures by the end of the following week, according to CNBC as relayed by The Next Web. That put the target at about October 30. We found no announcement of a close.

Why Investors Hesitated

The FT's account, as summarized by Digg, is that demand from clients was weaker than in past rounds. Some other investors wanted to see how Anthropic prices its IPO before they committed to OpenAI. That is a notable reason to hold off: a rival's public market price would become the benchmark for OpenAI's private one.

TechCrunch frames the timing as a market problem. It says investors have grown wary of heavy AI infrastructure spending, which it links to a tech stock sell-off, and it notes that Anthropic's planned IPO could face its own challenges.

Our Take

The price moved first, and that tells you where the sale was hardest. A company does not usually cut its valuation by $150 billion in a few weeks when the buyers are lining up. Nobody has said the round is failing. But the cut to the price came before any cut to the size was reported, and at least some of the investors who hesitated were looking at the public market.

That makes the Anthropic IPO the real test. If Anthropic prices well, a $1.25 trillion pre-money figure for OpenAI looks like a fair entry price for a private investor. If it prices badly, OpenAI's bridge gets more expensive, or smaller. We think the round is less a financing story than a referendum on what public investors will pay for frontier labs.

One caveat: almost everything here is reported, not announced. OpenAI has not commented on the terms, and two of the figures that matter most, the $20 billion target and the $11 billion committed, rest on a single outlet's account of the FT and WSJ. We would not build a valuation model on them until the company confirms a close.

Three Signposts for the Next 60 Days

First, whether OpenAI announces a close, and at what size. A close at $20 billion and a close at $30 billion would tell very different stories about demand. Second, whether Anthropic's IPO prices, and at what valuation, since that is the reference point some investors said they were waiting for. Third, whether the UAE-led investors and Coatue are named in an OpenAI announcement, because until then the lead roles are reported, not confirmed.

Sources: TechCrunch, October 31, 2026, The Next Web, Digg (summary of the FT report), investingLive (summary of the CNBC report), Business Today, October 6, 2026.