OpenAI Weighs Investor-Led Funding Talks at About $1.2 Trillion
On September 15, 2026, the Financial Times reported OpenAI is in early, investor-initiated talks on a pre-IPO round around $1.2 trillion, after a March close of $122 billion at $852 billion. OpenAI declined comment. A New York Times account the next morning cited about $1.5 trillion for the same talks.
TLDR
Financial Times on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, corroborated by Reuters and Bloomberg (10:31 PM UTC): OpenAI has held early discussions with large investors about a fresh raise that would value it at about $1.2 trillion (Bloomberg: more than $1.2 trillion) ahead of an IPO. Talks were initiated by investors, not the company; the figure may change. OpenAI declined to comment. Last close: March $122 billion committed at $852 billion. Sam Altman on Saturday (Fortune): no 2026 IPO, citing safety. WSJ: Q2 revenue $6.7 billion vs Q1 $5.7 billion; operating margin fell. Do not dual-file Sep 16: NYT DealBook (12:01 a.m. ET Sep 16) cites about $1.5 trillion for the same Tuesday talks—a conflicting figure, and it compared against a $730 billion print (February pre-money), not the $852 billion March post-money. Treat $1.2T / $1.5T as talk, not a priced round.
| Source | Status | |
|---|---|---|
| ~$1.2T (or >$1.2T) | FT, Reuters, Bloomberg, WSJ | Tuesday talks |
| ~$1.5T | NYT DealBook Sep 16 12:01 ET | Same talks, later number |
| Last priced | $852B on $122B (March) | Closed |
Product-line de-dupe: not the March $122B / $852B close, not Altman’s Sep 12 no-2026-IPO (already in the Pace-the-Frontier file), not Anthropic’s Nasdaq / Q2 profit (Sep 13). New fact: investor-led pre-IPO talks at a trillion-plus ask.
Why this story matters
OpenAI is raising into a delay, not listing into one. Watch: whether the $1.2T or $1.5T number is the one bankers actually paper, and how it sits next to Anthropic’s October Nasdaq window.
Sources
- Reuters via Investing.com: OpenAI mulls funding round at $1.2 trillion valuation, FT reports (September 15, 2026)
- Bloomberg: OpenAI weighing funding round at over $1.2 trillion (September 15, 2026)
- New York Times DealBook: OpenAI considers new financing at a $1.5 trillion valuation (September 16, 2026)