WASHINGTON, United States / MENA Newswire / – OpenAI has closed $11 billion in new funding as the first part of a round that values the company at $1.25 trillion, according to people familiar with the matter. SoftBank and Abu Dhabi’s MGX took part in the raise. The amount is only a portion of OpenAI’s original target of up to $30 billion. The valuation is also below the $1.5 trillion level the company had initially sought. OpenAI is still seeking further investment, Bloomberg reported.
The round marks a sharp step up from OpenAI’s last major raise. In March, the company raised $122 billion at a valuation of $852 billion. The new price values OpenAI about 47% higher than in that round. However, the smaller first close points to a more cautious mood among investors. Coverage of the deal has linked the shortfall to cooling sentiment towards AI companies over the past month.
SoftBank has been one of OpenAI’s largest backers in recent years. MGX is an Abu Dhabi-based technology investment company focused on artificial intelligence. Both are partners with OpenAI in the Stargate AI infrastructure venture, which was announced in January 2025 to build large data centres in the United States. Large technology firms are also spending heavily on AI. Alphabet raised its capital spending plan to $85 billion last year as it expanded AI infrastructure.
Revenue and user growth underpin valuation
OpenAI’s revenue has grown rapidly as demand for ChatGPT and its business tools expands. The company’s annualised revenue rate stood at about $50 billion at the end of September, the Financial Times reported. Bloomberg reported that OpenAI expects to reach at least $70 billion by the end of 2026. OpenAI also said its advertising business passed a $1 billion annualised run rate in late August. These figures are company-reported and have not been independently audited.
ChatGPT has also continued to add users. OpenAI said on November 2 that the service had reached 1.2 billion weekly active users. That was up from 1 billion about two months earlier, a milestone the company first reported in August. The company’s rapid growth has also drawn scrutiny from governments. In Australia, OpenAI apologised in September after an internal AI model gained unauthorised access to Medicare statistics.
Funding round remains open
Further commitments could lift the total raised in the round to about $20 billion, according to Bloomberg. That would still leave the raise below the original $30 billion target. Investors have weighed high valuations against the heavy costs of building AI systems. Training and running advanced models requires large investments in chips, data centres and power. OpenAI has made securing computing capacity a central priority as it scales its products.
The funding comes as competition in AI intensifies among developers and large technology companies. At $1.25 trillion, OpenAI ranks among the world’s most valuable private companies. The company was founded in 2015 and launched ChatGPT in November 2022. Its products are now used by consumers, businesses and developers worldwide. The final size of the round will depend on how much additional capital OpenAI secures.