OpenAI $1.25 Trillion Valuation: $11 Billion Funding Round Makes It the Most Valuable Startup Ever

OpenAI $1.25 Trillion Valuation is now the number that defines the AI industry. Bloomberg News reported on Friday, November 6, 2026, that OpenAI has closed on about $11 billion in new funding, the first part of a funding round that values the ChatGPT maker at $1.25 trillion, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters carried the report within hours, and Bloomberg's sources said the money had already been wired to OpenAI by Friday. The deal makes OpenAI the most valuable startup in history, and it lands in the middle of a brutal sell-off in AI stocks.

OpenAI $1.25 Trillion Valuation: What the $11 Billion Means

The $11 billion is only the first portion of a larger round. Bloomberg reported that OpenAI plans to raise up to $20 billion in total, with the rest expected in the coming weeks, so roughly $9 billion is still to be collected. Two investors told CNA that SoftBank and MGX participated, though Bloomberg's own reporting did not name the investors. OpenAI has not published its own statement about the round, so every number here is reported rather than confirmed by the company.

The timing is striking. Global stocks lost about $3.5 trillion in value as AI shares sold off after the US midterm elections, yet investors still wired $11 billion into the world's best-known AI lab at a valuation nearly 47 percent higher than the one it carried eight months ago. That gap between the market mood and the private valuation is the story of this deal.

From a $30 Billion Ask to a $20 Billion Round

OpenAI did not start out asking for $11 billion. In early October it was seeking $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation, according to the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. Investors pushed back as market conditions turned, and by October 31 — the deadline OpenAI had set for commitments — only about $11 billion had been committed, less than half of the original ask. The target has since been cut to about $20 billion at the $1.25 trillion valuation, with the rest being raised as debt against chip orders.

The $1.25 trillion mark is therefore $150 billion below the number in play in early October, but it is still one of the largest private funding rounds in tech history. The first close also comes just before rival Anthropic is expected to debut on the Nasdaq in mid-November, reportedly targeting a $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion valuation — a listing both companies have been racing, with the same pool of investors watching both.

A 47 Percent Jump From March's $852 Billion Valuation

In March 2026 OpenAI raised $122 billion at an $852 billion post-money valuation. Eight months later the same company is being marked at $1.25 trillion — a rise of about 47 percent in under a year, and a mark that puts the still-private company in the company of the largest public firms.

The jump also shows how much of OpenAI's value now rests on infrastructure. The company is spending enormous sums on data centres and computing power to train and run its models, and investors are not just buying a chatbot business — they are buying a share of the computing capacity behind it.

Why the Money Matters: Data Centres and the AI Race

OpenAI is expected to use the capital primarily for data-centre infrastructure to support training and running large language models, according to the reporting around the round. The need is visible in this week's own launches: GPT-6 Cyber on November 5, a security model its framework rates as Critical in cybersecurity, and Images 2.6, which can turn photos into animated GIFs. Each new capability costs more computing power than the last.

The funding also buys OpenAI room to keep building while the public markets doubt AI stocks. Google announced a $17 billion data centre in Wyoming the same week, and the whole sector is racing to lock up power, chips and capacity. In that race, $11 billion in fresh cash is a meaningful head start.

What Is Not Confirmed Yet

• OpenAI has closed $11 billion in new funding at a $1.25 trillion valuation, Bloomberg reported on Friday, November 6, citing people familiar with the matter.
• The $11 billion is only the first portion of the round; OpenAI plans to raise up to $20 billion in total, with the rest expected in the coming weeks.
• SoftBank and MGX participated, according to two investors cited by CNA; Bloomberg did not name the investors.
• The round began as a $30 billion ask at a $1.4 trillion valuation in early October, then was cut to about $20 billion at $1.25 trillion.
• OpenAI's valuation has risen about 47 percent from the $852 billion post-money mark of its $122 billion March 2026 round.
• OpenAI has not published its own statement, and the exact use of proceeds is unconfirmed — treat the figures as reported, not audited.