OpenAI’s Sam Altman meets mideast investors for $50 billion round
OpenAI has raised billions of dollars in recent years to help finance the immense cost of chips, data centers and talent to build new artificial intelligence systems and support wider adoption of the technology
OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has been meeting with top investors in the Middle East to line up funding for a new investment round that could total at least $50 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Altman recently visited the region, where he spoke with investors, including some of the leading state-backed funds in Abu Dhabi, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public.
The ChatGPT maker is looking to raise $50 billion or more in the round at a valuation of about $750 billion to $830 billion, the people said. The talks are early, and the amount could change. OpenAI has also recently held talks with Amazon.com Inc. to raise at least $10 billion, Bloomberg News has reported.
OpenAI declined to comment. The Information previously reported the company had discussed raising tens of billions of dollars at a $750 billion valuation.
OpenAI has raised billions of dollars in recent years to help finance the immense cost of chips, data centers and talent to build new artificial intelligence systems and support wider adoption of the technology. The startup, which is not yet profitable, has committed to spend more than $1.4 trillion on AI infrastructure in the coming years.
Several top AI developers, including Anthropic PBC and Elon Musk’s xAI, have turned to deep-pocketed investors in the Middle East to meet their growing capital needs. OpenAI has previously raised funding from MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based tech investment firm. It has also partnered with G42 to develop a massive data center in the United Arab Emirates.
Though OpenAI and ChatGPT remain synonymous with AI for many, the company faces mounting competition from Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Anthropic, among others. Anthropic is also in talks to raise a large new round of funding at a $350 billion valuation, Bloomberg News has reported.
OpenAI was most recently valued at $500 billion in the fall of 2025 in a deal that allowed some employees to sell shares.
