OpenAI is working on a new $30B funding round at a $1.25T valuation, according to reporting on the talks, with an IPO (a first public stock offering) to follow.
The source gives few details beyond those two numbers and the IPO backdrop. It does not name investors, a closing date, or whether the $1.25T figure counts the new money (post-money) or not (pre-money). The one other point it makes is that a valuation above $1T would make OpenAI the most highly valued private company ever.
The arithmetic helps here. If $1.25T is the post-money figure, $30B buys about 2.4% of the company. That is a small stake for a very large check, and it suggests the round is about more than raising cash. A raise this close to a listing works as a price-setting exercise: it gives the eventual public offering a reference point, and it lets existing backers mark their holdings at that level before outside scrutiny begins.
That scrutiny is the real change an IPO brings. Private rounds are negotiated behind closed doors with a handful of investors. A listing means audited financials, risk disclosures, and shareholders who can sell the stock the same day. A valuation that works in a private negotiation then has to survive a much wider audience.
The open question is how the public offering will be priced against this round. A listing below the private mark would be awkward for the investors who just paid it, while a pop above it would show how much demand is waiting.