OpenAI Seeks $30B at $1.4T Valuation as Run Rate Nears $70B; Oracle Jumps

OpenAI is targeting at least $30 billion in new funding at a valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion after postponing its IPO plans, Bloomberg reported. The round would act as a bridge following OpenAI's $122 billion raise in March at an $852 billion valuation, which would put the implied valuation up by about two-thirds in six months.

The revenue picture moved on the same day. Axios reported, and Reuters confirmed via a source, that OpenAI's annualized recurring revenue is approaching $70 billion, up more than 70% since the third quarter began in July, with consumer revenue in the quarter already exceeding all of last year. The figures do not line up neatly with the Bloomberg funding report, which described the run rate as having topped $40 billion, and run-rate metrics (often a single month multiplied by 12) can flatter a fast-growing business. Rival Anthropic's run rate was reported to have crossed $65 billion by the end of July, so the race between the two labs is close.

ORCL was the most direct public-market read-through. Shares rose as much as roughly 8% intraday after the revenue report and were up 5.3% when Reuters published, as investors tied Oracle's cloud outlook to OpenAI's growth. D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria said OpenAI represents around half of Oracle's compute backlog, calling the acceleration "a very good sign for Oracle".

That same dependence is the risk. With so much of Oracle's backlog tied to one customer that is still raising outside capital to fund its compute commitments, Oracle's stock is now sensitive to OpenAI's financing as much as its revenue. Watch whether the $30 billion round closes at the reported valuation, whether OpenAI discloses revenue on a basis less generous than run rate, and how Oracle's next cloud results convert that backlog into recognized revenue.