OpenAI reportedly raises 11 billion dollars in new funding round

OpenAI has reportedly secured 11 billion dollars in a new funding round, with sources indicating that the total amount may nearly double in the coming weeks. Investors have already transferred funds to the company, according to reports shared with Bloomberg. The specific identities of the backers in this current round have not been disclosed, but potential participants include Microsoft, which has supported OpenAI in at least four previous rounds, including a 122 billion dollar raise in March that involved Nvidia, Amazon.com, and more than 20 other firms. Analysts expect OpenAI to raise an additional 9 billion dollars in this cycle, which would place the company's valuation at 1.25 trillion dollars. This valuation could allow OpenAI to surpass the market value of Anthropic, which aims for a 1.5 trillion dollar valuation in its upcoming initial public offering, although some investors question the feasibility of that target, with one shareholder suggesting a closer to 1 trillion dollar valuation instead.

Anthropic's recent filing shows quarterly revenue surged 1,127 percent year over year in the third quarter, while OpenAI closed the quarter with annualized net revenue of 50 billion dollars, a 77 percent increase from the prior year. This growth is driven by enterprise business, where sales have more than doubled. OpenAI recently launched GPT-6 Cyber, a model that outperforms its general purpose GPT-6 Astra in cybersecurity tasks. Engineers used this model to develop 948 Linux system attacks and identify 81 critical zero day vulnerabilities in Firefox. OpenAI President Greg Brockman noted that the company experienced a slowdown in the first half of the year, with growth accelerating after the June launch of GPT-5.6 Sol, the predecessor to GPT-6 Astra. He also credited productivity apps like ChatGPT Work and coding tools for the recent momentum.