OpenAI reportedly racing to raise $30 billion before Anthropic goes public

What happened: Reuters, citing two people familiar with the talks, reports OpenAI is trying to raise about $30 billion in a round that could value it above $1.4 trillion, up from a previous valuation of a little under $900 billion. SoftBank is in talks to join. Anthropic's stock debut is expected in mid November. One source says OpenAI wants the deal done before Anthropic opens its books. No deal is done yet, and chip stocks have lost $1.6 trillion in value in under two weeks.
The claim: OpenAI told investors it is on pace for $50 billion a year in revenue and expects a $70 billion run rate by year end.
Austin's take: Austin sees the two top labs chasing the same investors and wonders whether OpenAI needs the cash or is grabbing it while it's available, and whether this is a chess move to pressure Anthropic. He doubts Dario would be rushed into an early IPO. Two labs above a trillion dollars would signal the market thinks the AI run isn't over.
Why it matters: The two leading frontier labs competing for the same capital shapes who can afford the compute race, and the valuations are a read on how much the market still believes in AI.
What to do: Watch whether the round closes before Anthropic's mid November debut and how chip stocks behave in the meantime.
Not confirmed yet: Based on anonymous sources; no deal is finalized. Austin mentions rumors that Anthropic may ship a big release before its IPO, which are unconfirmed.

The Loop