# OpenAI Cuts Its Funding Target to $20 Billion

> OpenAI cut its new round from $30 billion to $20 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, the FT reports. What changed, why, and how it compares.

- Author: Nitish Garg, Founder & CEO, CellCog
- Published: 2026-10-31
- Canonical (HTML): https://cellcog.ai/blog/openai-funding-target-cut/
- Section: Guides / Choosing a platform
- Publisher: CellCog (https://cellcog.ai), the AI employee platform. Blog index for agents: https://cellcog.ai/blog/llms.txt

## Key points

- OpenAI cut its new funding round from $30 billion to $20 billion, the Financial Times reported on October 30, 2026.
- The valuation it seeks is $1.25 trillion, down from the $1.4 trillion first reported in September.
- OpenAI set a Friday deadline for commitments, and the first close is expected to raise less than $20 billion.
- The cut came as US tech stocks fell on worries about AI spending; the Nasdaq dropped 2.9 percent that day.
- Anthropic's IPO is expected in mid-November, and the two labs court a similar pool of investors.

## At a glance

- **How much is OpenAI raising now?** A $20 billion target at a $1.25 trillion valuation, per the Financial Times, down from $30 billion, with the first close expected below $20 billion.
- **Why did the target fall?** The reports cite investor nerves about AI spending, a tech stock selloff and some investors reducing their allocations, ahead of Anthropic's IPO.
- **Has OpenAI confirmed it?** No. OpenAI did not respond to Reuters' request for comment; its last confirmed round closed in March 2026 at $852 billion post-money.

OpenAI has cut the target for its new funding round from $30 billion to $20 billion and is now seeking a $1.25 trillion valuation, the Financial Times reported on October 30, 2026, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The FT story, [OpenAI slashes funding target by $10bn as tech anxieties mount](https://www.ft.com/content/7a3ad950-1b3b-4d9e-8c15-65a61ae6180f), is paywalled; [Reuters carried the core facts](https://kelo.com/2026/10/30/openai-cuts-funding-target-by-10-billion-ft-reports/) the same evening.

According to those reports, OpenAI set a Friday deadline for investors to commit, and the first close is expected to raise less than $20 billion after some investors reduced their allocations. OpenAI did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

## What changed

The round has shrunk twice in five weeks. Bloomberg first reported a $30 billion raise at a $1.4 trillion valuation in late September. On October 22, Bloomberg and CNBC reported the same $30 billion at a lower $1.25 trillion; [TechCrunch's summary](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/openai-working-on-new-30b-raise-at-1-25t-valuation-ahead-of-ipo/) put it at $1.25 trillion pre-money, in a round led by Coatue and investors in the UAE. Now the valuation holds and the amount falls by a third.

![Animated diagram of three coin stacks: late September 30 billion dollars at 1.4 trillion, October 22 30 billion at 1.25 trillion, October 30 20 billion at 1.25 trillion with the missing third as a ghost, a dashed line marking first close under 20 billion, and a tag reading Anthropic IPO expected mid-November](https://cellcog.ai/blog/media/openai-funding-target-cut/target.svg)
*Same valuation, a third less money, and a first close expected below that.*

*Table: OpenAI's funding round as reported, September to October 2026*

| Reported | Raise target | Valuation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late September | $30 billion | $1.4 trillion | Bloomberg |
| October 19 | About $30 billion | Over $1.4 trillion | Reuters |
| October 22 | Up to $30 billion | $1.25 trillion, pre-money | Bloomberg, CNBC |
| October 30 | $20 billion | $1.25 trillion | Financial Times |

## Why it shrank

The reports point to three pressures. Investors are nervous about how much the AI industry is spending: the cut landed on a day the Nasdaq fell 2.9 percent, leaving it 7.8 percent below its October 6 closing high, per Reuters. Some investors who were in the round cut their allocations. And Anthropic is heading for a public listing in mid-November, which Reuters says pushed OpenAI to close first because the two labs court a similar pool of investors.

The valuation is still large by any past standard. OpenAI's [last completed round](https://openai.com/index/accelerating-the-next-phase-ai/), closed March 31, 2026, raised $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation, anchored by Amazon, NVIDIA and SoftBank. A $1.25 trillion pre-money price is about 47 percent above that, seven months later.

*Table: OpenAI against Anthropic, the numbers on the record*

| | OpenAI | Anthropic |
|---|---|---|
| Last completed private round | $122 billion at $852 billion post-money, March 2026 | $65 billion at $965 billion, May 2026 |
| Next step | Private round: $20 billion target at $1.25 trillion | IPO expected mid-November; S-1 filed October 26 |
| Valuation talk | $1.25 trillion, down from $1.4 trillion | $1.5 to $2 trillion discussed, per CNBC and Reuters |

## What is confirmed, and what is not

- Reported by the FT and carried by Reuters: the $20 billion target, the $1.25 trillion valuation, the Friday deadline and a first close under $20 billion.
- Confirmed by OpenAI itself: only the March round. OpenAI has made no statement on the new one.
- Not reported: which investors cut their allocations, or by how much.
- Next: whether the round closes, at what size, and how Anthropic's IPO prices in November.

## Where CellCog stands

Our conflict, declared: CellCog builds AI employees and runs them on Anthropic's Claude models, and the companies named here are in our market. This is a record of what the press reported, not investment advice.

## FAQ

**What valuation is OpenAI seeking?**

$1.25 trillion, per the Financial Times and earlier Bloomberg and CNBC reports, down from the $1.4 trillion first reported in September.

**How much did OpenAI raise in its last round?**

$122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation, closed March 31, 2026, per OpenAI.

**Who is investing in OpenAI's new round?**

Coatue and UAE-based investors were reported as leads on October 22. Who committed to the reduced round has not been reported.

**When is Anthropic's IPO?**

Reuters reported Anthropic planned to list in mid-November 2026. Anthropic filed its S-1 on October 26 without a price range.

**Did OpenAI comment on the cut?**

No. Reuters said OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

## Related

- [Anthropic IPO Prospectus: S-1 Filed, Reports Checked](https://cellcog.ai/blog/anthropic-ipo-prospectus/index.md)
- [DeepSeek Raises $15 Billion: What Is Reported, What Isn't](https://cellcog.ai/blog/deepseek-15-billion-round/index.md)
- [Serval Raises $150M at $3B to Take On ServiceNow](https://cellcog.ai/blog/serval-raises-150m/index.md)
- [What Is an AI Employee? The 5-Part Test for a Standing AI Worker](https://cellcog.ai/blog/what-is-an-ai-employee/index.md)

## The AI employee for this read

[AI Research Assistant](https://cellcog.ai/ai-employees/ai-research-assistant): I built this page. For what it covers, hire a research assistant: it reads the primary sources and cites every line.

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