Report: OpenAI is considering a $1.2 trillion valuation in a pre-IPO funding round.

OpenAI is in initial contact with investors for a new round of private funding, targeting a valuation of $1.2 trillion.

On September 15, according to reports citing sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI has begun discussions with major investors regarding a new round of financing, with a proposed valuation of $1.2 trillion, a significant jump from the $852 billion financing round completed in March of this year.

The report points out that the contacts were initiated by the investors, rather than led by OpenAI. Whether to proceed with this round of financing and its timing will largely depend on the company's IPO plans.

Altman stated last Saturday that the timing for a US IPO is "inappropriate" and postponed the IPO window until after 2027. OpenAI secretly filed its IPO prospectus in June of this year but subsequently delayed its listing process.

If the new round of private equity financing is completed, it will provide long-term shareholders such as SoftBank and Thrive Capital with the opportunity to continue increasing their holdings. However, it also means that these investors will have to wait longer to realize the substantial returns brought by the IPO.

At the same time, Altman also made a clear statement on the issue of AI safety regulation, emphasizing that the industry has the ability to promote safe development independently without the need for mandatory external intervention.

Behind the soaring valuation: accelerated revenue growth is the core driver.

What supports OpenAI's new round of high valuation is its recently accelerated revenue growth.

According to reports citing sources familiar with the matter, with the release of GPT-5.6 in July, the company's annualized revenue exceeded $40 billion last month, representing a 20% increase month-over-month.

Previously, the company's performance growth was relatively slow in the first half of this year, while its competitor Anthropic took advantage of the situation to complete a new round of financing, with a post-investment valuation of $965 billion, which once surpassed OpenAI.

OpenAI also launched another new model, Astra, this month, further solidifying its product competitiveness.

The company stated that despite consuming significant capital in recent years, with expenditures reaching $34 billion last year alone, it has ample cash reserves after completing its March financing round. However, the report points out that the company "needs capital," and external concerns continue regarding the rate at which it is spending its funds.

In the debate over safety regulations, Altman strongly supports industry self-regulation.

Just as the outside world is focusing on the progress of financing, the debate over AI safety regulation has intensified again.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a lengthy article last Saturday warning of the potential risks of AI technology and calling for a slowdown in research and development. This article sparked widespread discussion within the industry, with policymakers and industry professionals engaging in heated debate over whether government intervention in regulation is appropriate.

This week, Altman, speaking with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, expressed clear confidence in the industry's capacity for self-regulation. He said:

I have great confidence in our company's and the industry's ability to safely advance this technology.

He also expressed "disappointment" with the way the current discussion is being characterized.

It is worth noting that although OpenAI is collaborating with Anthropic and Google DeepMind to address security issues, Altman maintains that AI companies should be able to independently complete the safe iteration of their models without the need for mandatory government regulations.

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