OpenAI’s $11B Raise and Delayed 2027 IPO Explained

OpenAI has raised about $11 billion in new funding at a $1.25 trillion valuation, according to Bloomberg reporting from November 6, 2026, confirmed separately by Reuters — and in the same week, the company pushed its stock market debut back to 2027 at the earliest. Its closest rival, Anthropic, did the opposite: it launched its IPO roadshow on November 10, pricing shares at $70 to $78 ahead of a planned first trade on November 19.

One thing to keep straight before we go further: almost every number in this story comes from press reporting, not from the companies themselves. OpenAI declined to comment on the funding, according to Bloomberg, and the figures come from people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Treat them as reported, not confirmed — and where a number is still a target rather than a done deal, this article says so plainly.

What Actually Happened in the First Week of November

The sequence matters, because the two announcements landed within days of each other and the contrast is the story.

On Friday, November 6, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI had closed the first part of a new funding round: about $11 billion wired to the company, at a valuation of $1.25 trillion. Reuters separately confirmed the account, citing a source familiar with the matter. The money is real — it has landed — but the round itself has not finished. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the full round could reach about $20 billion and is expected to close in the coming weeks. That $20 billion figure is a target, not a closed deal.

That same reporting carried a second piece of news: OpenAI had spent more than a month raising this money after delaying its IPO plans. The company had earlier suggested it might go public in 2026. That is now off the table. The expectation, according to the reporting, is an IPO in 2027 — framed as “at the earliest,” not as a date on a calendar. OpenAI has not filed IPO paperwork or named a date.

Then, on Tuesday, November 10, Anthropic launched its IPO roadshow: 825 million Class A shares at $70 to $78 each, listing on the Nasdaq under the ticker ANT. CNBC reported that Anthropic expects to set its final price on November 18 and start trading on November 19. Anthropic also lined up a separate $26 billion private placement from seven of the biggest names in tech — Google, Nvidia, Microsoft, AMD, Broadcom, Micron, and TSMC — buying shares at the IPO price alongside the public offering.

Two AI labs, two fundraising strategies, one week — against the same backdrop of AI stocks selling off after the midterm elections, with investors asking harder questions about costs, revenue, and when any of this turns a profit.

The Funding Math in Plain English

Big funding numbers blur together fast, so here is the OpenAI round stripped down to the four figures that matter.

The original ask: about $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation. In late September, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI was looking to raise $30 billion or more in this round, at a valuation of around $1.4 trillion. That was the plan going in — the biggest private raise the company had ever attempted, pitched to investors as the last chance to buy in before an IPO.

The revised target: about $20 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation. By late October, the Financial Times reported that OpenAI had cut its target by roughly $10 billion and lowered the valuation to $1.25 trillion. Reuters reported on October 31 that the company was then seeking $20 billion at that valuation. The cut came as public AI stocks fell and investors pushed back on data-center spending and build-out risk.

The first close: about $11 billion at $1.25 trillion. On November 6, the first tranche landed: roughly $11 billion wired to OpenAI, at the $1.25 trillion valuation. That is a little more than one-third of the original $30 billion ask, and just over half of the revised $20 billion target. The rest of the round — up to about $9 billion more — is still being raised and is expected to close in the coming weeks, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

The valuation step-up: $852 billion in March to $1.25 trillion now. Back in March 2026, OpenAI said it had closed financing with $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation. The new $1.25 trillion figure is about 47% higher than that March valuation. So the company is worth far more on paper than it was eight months ago — but notably less than the $1.4 trillion it tried to command in September. Both things are true at once, and both matter. The March-to-November jump shows investors still believe the business is growing fast. The September-to-November trim shows they are no longer willing to pay any price for that growth.

One wrinkle: the reporting does not specify whether the $1.25 trillion figure is a pre-money or post-money valuation, and that distinction changes what the number means. Private valuations are negotiated prices between a company and a small group of investors — not market prices. Anthropic’s IPO will give the market its first real chance to price a frontier AI lab in public, and whatever price it sets will become the benchmark OpenAI gets measured against when its own turn comes.

OpenAI vs. Anthropic: Two Paths to the Same Money

Here is the side-by-side picture as it stands in mid-November 2026.

A few rows in that table deserve a closer look.

First, the amounts. Anthropic is trying to raise more money in one public offering — up to about $64.4 billion before the banks’ option for extra shares — than OpenAI raised in its entire first close, and more than the full $20 billion OpenAI hopes its round will reach. Add the $26 billion private placement and the deal gets bigger still. If it prices anywhere near the top of its range, it would rank among the largest IPOs in history.

Second, the valuations are now strikingly close. OpenAI’s reported private valuation is $1.25 trillion. Anthropic’s IPO range implies up to about $1.4 trillion on a fully diluted basis at $78 a share, and about $1.26 trillion at the $70 bottom of the range. In other words, the two rivals are worth roughly the same amount of money on paper — but one of those numbers was set in a private negotiation and the other is about to be tested in the open market.

Third, the retail angle is unusual. CNBC reported that Anthropic is aiming to direct about 20% of its IPO shares to individual investors, versus the typical 5% to 10% in a large offering. Brokers named in the filing include Schwab, Fidelity, Robinhood, SoFi, and E*Trade. That means ordinary investors — not just funds — will have a real shot at buying in at the IPO price, and the first day of trading will be watched as a verdict on retail appetite for AI stocks. If you want the full breakdown of Anthropic’s price range, share count, and timeline, we covered it in detail here: Anthropic IPO Price Range $70–$78, Trading November 19, 2026.

Fourth, the investor lists tell their own story. OpenAI’s round is led by big asset managers and venture firms — Coatue, T. Rowe Price, SoftBank, Sequoia, Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz — plus a consortium of investors from the United Arab Emirates, with Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund reported as a major participant. Anthropic’s private placement, by contrast, is its own customers and suppliers buying in: the chipmakers and cloud giants whose hardware its models run on. One is a financial bet. The other is a strategic lock-in.

Why OpenAI Took Less Money Than It Wanted

When a company that could once name its price ends up taking about a third of what it asked for, something changed in the room. Three forces explain the shortfall.

The market cooled. Public AI stocks sold off after the midterm elections in early November, and the reporting ties OpenAI’s trimmed round directly to that selloff. Investors who were happy to fund AI growth at almost any valuation in the spring started doing the math on data-center spending in the fall. A private valuation is, in the end, a guess about what the public market will pay later — and when public AI stocks fall, that guess comes down.

The spending is enormous. On a November 10 call with investors, OpenAI’s leadership shared third-quarter figures: revenue of about $10 billion for the three months ending in September, up nearly 50% from the prior quarter and nearly three times the same period a year earlier. But the same disclosure, reported by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, showed an adjusted operating loss of about $10.9 billion for the quarter — up from $10.1 billion the quarter before. The company is bringing in $10 billion a quarter and spending more than that on top of it, mostly on computing power. Investors are being asked to fund that gap, quarter after quarter, on the promise that scale eventually fixes it.

The IPO delay removed the urgency. A private round pitched as “the last chance to buy before the IPO” is a much easier sell when the IPO is months away. Once the listing slipped to 2027, the deadline pressure eased — and with it, some investors’ willingness to commit at the top price. OpenAI President Greg Brockman said last week that the company now generates most of its revenue from enterprise sales and believes it will be ready to go public in 2027. CFO Sarah Friar has told employees the company will be public in 2027, possibly sooner. CEO Sam Altman has been more cautious in public, saying in September that an IPO in 2026 would be ill-advised and tying the timing to AI safety. Whatever the mix of reasons, the message to investors is the same: there is no rush, and the price reflects that.

None of this means OpenAI is in trouble. A company that raises $11 billion in a week when markets are shaky is not a company investors have given up on. It means the era when OpenAI could set any price and watch investors compete to pay it is, for now, over. The negotiation has two sides again.

What the $10 Billion Quarter Really Says

The third-quarter numbers deserve a careful read, because they cut both ways — and both directions matter for anyone trying to judge the AI business.

On the revenue side, the story is genuinely strong. Quarterly revenue of about $10 billion for the first time, up nearly 50% from about $6.7 billion in the second quarter, and nearly triple the same quarter last year. Annualized revenue reached roughly $50 billion by the end of September, according to people familiar with the investor call. Growth accelerated sharply: the second quarter grew about 18% from the first, then the third quarter jumped nearly 50%. The company also said its enterprise business has doubled and now accounts for the majority of revenue — a shift that matters, because business subscriptions are steadier than consumer sign-ups and harder for a rival to poach with a cheaper chatbot.

On the cost side, the story is just as stark. An adjusted operating loss of about $10.9 billion in a quarter when revenue was $10 billion means the company spent more than twice what it brought in, mostly on computing power — the chips, data centers, and energy needed to train and run large AI models.

What Changes for Users: Nothing Yet

If you use ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI tool at work, here is the honest answer to the question you are probably asking: nothing changes for you right now.

• Your subscription price is not affected. Neither company has announced price changes tied to these fundraising moves. ChatGPT and Claude plans continue at their current prices.
• The tools are not going away. An $11 billion raise and a $64 billion IPO are the opposite of distress signals. Both companies are capitalized to keep building for years.
• Features will keep shipping. The money is earmarked for more computing capacity, which is what makes models faster and cheaper to run. The competitive pressure between the two labs is the best guarantee that new features keep coming.
• What could change over time is who owns the companies you rely on. Once Anthropic lists, its quarterly results, share price, and strategic decisions become public. OpenAI will face the same scrutiny when it lists in 2027 or later. That is a slow change, not a sudden one, but it is real — and if you hold AI-adjacent stocks, the pricing on November 18 and the first trade on November 19 will set the market’s price for a frontier AI lab. This article is not investment advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy or skip the offering.

What This Means If You Run a Business or Create Content

For small business owners and creators, the OpenAI–Anthropic split is more than a finance story. It is a preview of how the tools you depend on will evolve — and what it will cost to keep up.

First, expect the enterprise push to continue. OpenAI now makes most of its money from business customers, and Anthropic’s growth has been driven by the same segment. That means both companies will keep building team features, admin controls, security certifications, and integrations aimed at companies rather than individual users. If you run a small business, the AI tools on offer in 2027 will look less like chatbots and more like business software — with business software pricing to match. Budget for that shift now, and test the team plans while competition between the two labs is keeping prices in check.

Second, expect the free and cheap tiers to stay generous — for now. Both companies are still in land-grab mode, competing for users and usage data. The fundraising gives them the cash to keep subsidizing free tiers while they chase enterprise revenue. That subsidy will not last forever, but there is no sign of it ending this month.

Third, if you create content about AI, this is a rich moment, but it comes with a responsibility. The numbers in this story changed three times in six weeks: $30 billion, then $20 billion, then $11 billion closed. Reporting that treats the first number it sees as final will be wrong. Attribute every figure, date-stamp every claim, and correct the record when the numbers move. If you publish AI content and monetize it, the same care applies to your own site’s compliance — see our guide to Google AdSense approval requirements for 2026 before you build a content strategy around fast-moving tech news.

Finally, do not mistake a funding slowdown for an AI slowdown. The technology is still improving fast, usage is still growing fast, and revenue is still growing fast. What slowed is investors’ willingness to fund that growth at any price.

What to Watch Next

Three dates and numbers will tell you whether this month’s story holds up or falls apart.

The second tranche of OpenAI’s round, in the coming weeks. Bloomberg’s sources said the round could reach about $20 billion and is expected to close in the coming weeks. Watch whether the remaining roughly $9 billion shows up — and at what valuation. If the second tranche closes at $1.25 trillion, the first close looks like a floor. If it comes in lower, or slips past the end of the year, the market’s caution runs deeper than one week’s headlines suggested.

Anthropic’s pricing on November 18 and first trade on November 19. This is the main event. The range is $70 to $78, but the final price could land anywhere in that range — or, if demand is weak, below it. The first day of trading will be the market’s first public verdict on what a frontier AI lab is worth. Watch the closing price on day one, not the opening pop.

The next OpenAI revenue disclosure. The company shared third-quarter figures with investors on November 10, and the fourth quarter will show whether the nearly 50% growth rate holds or cools. If revenue growth slows while losses stay above $10 billion a quarter, the pressure on the 2027 IPO timeline — and on the valuation — will grow.

One more thing to keep in mind: every figure in this article is reported, not announced. OpenAI declined to comment on the funding round, and the revenue figures came from people familiar with an investor call, speaking anonymously. Anthropic’s IPO terms, by contrast, come from a public SEC filing — a more reliable kind of source, and the reason this article treats those numbers with more confidence. When the second tranche closes, or the IPO prices, the numbers will become facts. Until then, they are reports — and honest reporting says so. For the original reporting behind the funding figures, see TechCrunch’s November 6 account of the Bloomberg report and Bloomberg’s report on the $10 billion third quarter, via The Straits Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did OpenAI raise $11 billion or $20 billion?

About $11 billion has closed so far, according to Bloomberg reporting from November 6, 2026, confirmed by Reuters. The full round could reach about $20 billion, according to Bloomberg’s sources, but that total is a target, not a closed deal — the round has not finished and the remaining money is expected to close in the coming weeks. Do not treat $20 billion as money OpenAI already has.

Why is OpenAI’s IPO postponed to 2027?

OpenAI has not given a single official reason. CEO Sam Altman said in September that an IPO in 2026 would be ill-advised, tying the timing to AI safety concerns. CFO Sarah Friar has told employees the company will be public in 2027, possibly sooner. President Greg Brockman said recently that the company believes it will be ready to go public in 2027. The company has not filed IPO paperwork or named a date, so 2027 is an expectation based on reporting, not a confirmed schedule.

How is Anthropic’s IPO different from OpenAI’s funding round?

Anthropic is selling shares to the public: 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each, listing on the Nasdaq as ANT, with pricing expected November 18 and trading starting November 19. Anyone with a brokerage account at a participating broker can potentially buy in. OpenAI’s round is private: a small group of large investors put money directly into the company. There is no public share price and no way for ordinary investors to participate.

Is OpenAI losing money?

Yes, on an operating basis, according to figures shared with investors on November 10 and reported by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. Third-quarter revenue was about $10 billion, but the adjusted operating loss was about $10.9 billion — up from $10.1 billion the quarter before. The losses come mostly from the cost of computing power. The company has not released a full breakdown, and adjusted operating figures are not the same as net losses.

Should I buy Anthropic stock when it lists?

This article cannot answer that for you, and no article should. What we can say is factual: the IPO is priced at $70 to $78 a share, it is expected to price November 18 and trade November 19, about 20% of shares are aimed at retail investors, and the company carries nearly $900 billion in committed future spending alongside fast-growing revenue. Read the prospectus, understand that IPOs can be volatile in their first weeks, and consider speaking with a licensed financial adviser before deciding.