Business and economy·November 7, 2026, 05:13

OpenAI raises $11 billion but has to lower expectations

AI-generated from the sources listed, with automated source checks.

OpenAI has closed a first tranche of a new funding round of about $11 billion at a valuation of $1.25 trillion. That is below what the company originally wanted, and the round could end up at about $20 billion against a target of up to $30 billion.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, closed a first tranche of a new funding round of about $11 billion on November 6, 2026. The valuation is $1.25 trillion. 24/7 Wall St. reports the figure as pre-money, meaning the value before the new money is added, while Pillitteri, citing the Financial Times, reports it as post-money, meaning after the new capital. The basis is therefore unclear.

The money represents about 37 percent of the original target of up to $30 billion. According to the sources, the round could end up at about $20 billion, and up to $9 billion still remains to be closed in a second tranche. That is a plan, not something that has happened.

Lower valuation than first sought

According to the sources, OpenAI originally asked for a valuation of about $1.4 trillion. Unite.AI mentions $1.5 trillion. According to a summary of the financial press, the ask was lowered to $1.25 trillion a week before the deadline for investor commitments, which was October 30.

The Wall Street Journal wrote on October 31 about the $11 billion and described the big investors' interest as "lukewarm."

Who is in?

SoftBank and MGX took part in the first tranche. Both were also part of OpenAI's previous round in March 2026, when the company raised $122 billion at a valuation of $852 billion.

According to the Financial Times reporting, as relayed by Pasquale Pillitteri, MGX is likely the lead investor. Founders Fund, Coatue, Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz were expected to participate. Which investors have finally committed how much is not stated in the sources.

Nervous markets

Tech stocks fell after earnings reports from Google, Amazon and Intel. According to the summary, that reduced confidence in high valuations of private AI companies.

According to 24/7 Wall St., Anthropic is planning a Nasdaq listing in mid-November. According to the sources, expectations for its valuation have fallen from about $2 trillion to about $1.5 trillion, which points to broader caution among investors.

OpenAI's own figures

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar says the business grew 70 percent quarter over quarter. She says there are 1.2 billion weekly ChatGPT users and that the enterprise segment has doubled. Revenue is split evenly between consumer and enterprise. The figures are OpenAI's own.

According to 24/7 Wall St., OpenAI's commitment to 12 gigawatts of computing power depends on the fundraising succeeding. According to the same source, Nvidia is more exposed than Microsoft.