OpenAI in talks to raise $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, with UAE investors

OpenAI is negotiating a new funding round of up to $30 billion that would value the ChatGPT maker at $1.25 trillion before the new money, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the talks. The round is being led by investment firm Coatue together with investors in the United Arab Emirates, TechCrunch reported, adding that the terms are still being worked out and could change. OpenAI declined to comment.

In rupees, $30 billion is about Rs 8.3 trillion, and a $1.25 trillion valuation is roughly Rs 346 trillion at Friday's interbank rate of about Rs 276.85 to the dollar (check it on our dollar rate page).

The numbers so far

A valuation above $1 trillion would be a record for a private company. CNBC also reported that the UAE money could be paired with a deal giving OpenAI more computing capacity in the Emirates.

The race with Anthropic and the road to listing

OpenAI filed confidential paperwork for a stock market listing (IPO) in June 2026, but has given no date. A higher private valuation now sets a higher bar for what public investors will be asked to pay later.

Its closest rival is moving on the same track. Anthropic, the maker of Claude, raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May and also filed confidential IPO papers in June; CNBC has reported it is aiming for a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion when it lists.

The money is going into chips and data centres. This week alone, China's DeepSeek raised about $15 billion (our story) and Meta told investors its AI spending had pushed its free cash flow negative (our Meta results story).

Why it matters in Pakistan

The Gulf's role is the part to watch from here. UAE investors are becoming central to the biggest AI companies, and the Gulf is also where millions of Pakistanis work. A World Bank study reported this week found that 61% of Pakistan's service workers are in jobs highly exposed to AI (our story). For freelancers selling AI-related work abroad, our freelancer tax calculator shows what is owed on foreign earnings.