AI TRENDS | OpenAI’s Major Investors Slow Funding as Company Cuts Fundraising Target

OpenAI has raised about $180 billion over the past two years, nearly two-thirds of it this year, but some core investors are expected to contribute less in its latest pre-IPO funding round. According to Sina Finance, citing DealBook, a person familiar with the matter said an investment consortium from the United Arab Emirates, including MGX, had committed a single-digit number of billions of dollars and was expected to be the round’s largest investor. OpenAI initially planned in September to raise up to $30 billion at a valuation of up to $1.5 trillion. The company has since cut its fundraising target by at least one-third and lowered the valuation to $1.25 trillion. SoftBank, previously one of OpenAI’s most active investors, is negotiating to contribute only several hundred million dollars, people familiar with the matter said. SoftBank has invested about $65 billion in OpenAI to date, including $30 billion in its $122 billion funding round in March this year and $30 billion in its $40 billion round in March 2025. Coatue, which has also invested in OpenAI competitor Anthropic, is negotiating to contribute several hundred million dollars. OpenAI still expects to complete the round in the coming weeks. The plan is to raise up to $20 billion in two tranches, with the first tranche’s deadline set for this Friday, a source said.