CNBC reported on October 31, 2026, that OpenAI had lowered its target for an ongoing funding round from up to $30 billion to up to $20 billion. CNBC said a person directly familiar with the deal confirmed the change, and that the round had not closed when the outlet published its report.
What the reported figures mean
| Measure | Reported figure | What it refers to |
| Earlier funding target | Up to $30 billion | Previous target, according to CNBC |
| Revised funding target | Up to $20 billion | Target for the ongoing round, according to CNBC |
| Investor commitments | Roughly $11 billion | Amount reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter |
| Post-money valuation | $1.25 trillion | Figure the Financial Times reported, as relayed by CNBC |
The new target was $10 billion below the earlier one, a one-third reduction in the stated ceilings. The roughly $11 billion in reported commitments is a separate measure: it represents investor commitments, not cash reported as transferred. As a rough arithmetic comparison, that amount is about 55% of the revised $20 billion target and 37% of the earlier $30 billion target.
The valuation and the market backdrop
A post-money valuation estimates a company’s value after a financing round is taken into account. CNBC attributed the $1.25 trillion figure to the Financial Times. Merca2 cited $1.4 trillion as a valuation discussed earlier for the round.
CNBC described investor questions about whether large AI infrastructure investments, particularly in data centers and GPUs, would produce adequate returns. Separately, Merca2 linked the funding news to a technology-stock sell-off and cited a 3.5% decline in the Nasdaq 100 during one session. These accounts put the reported target change amid concerns about returns on AI spending.
CNBC also reported that investors from the United Arab Emirates were leading the round alongside Coatue.
