OpenAI seeks $30 billion from UAE funds and BlackRock at $1.4 trillion valuation

Fixed valuation and syndicate negotiations

OpenAI is in discussions with institutional investors to secure at least $30 billion in new financing at a pre-money valuation of $1.4 trillion. In an unusual departure from standard venture capital practices, the company has presented the $1.4 trillion price as a fixed valuation before establishing a lead investor for the round. Typical venture capital processes require prospective lead firms to submit term sheets and negotiate valuations directly with corporate leadership. Under the proposed structure, sovereign and institutional funds from the United Arab Emirates are negotiating to form an investment consortium to anchor the transaction. This UAE syndicate, organized around Abu Dhabi-based fund MGX, aims to contribute up to $10 billion in combined equity to the capital raise.

Investor participation and infrastructure partnerships

Global asset manager BlackRock is engaged in parallel talks to participate in the $30 billion funding round alongside the UAE consortium. The prospective pairing builds on an existing relationship between BlackRock and MGX, which jointly operate a separate $30 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure vehicle alongside technology partners Microsoft and Nvidia. Additional discussions have included the University of California endowment and venture capital firms Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, both of which previously backed OpenAI. MGX, founded by Mubadala and G42 and chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, raised close to $50 billion in 2026 and holds existing equity stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. OpenAI, BlackRock, and Thrive Capital declined to comment on the negotiations, while MGX, Andreessen Horowitz, and the University of California did not respond to requests for comment.

Capital allocation and delayed public offering

The planned $30 billion funding round is intended to cover escalating computing costs, data center expansion, and advanced model development. The targeted $1.4 trillion valuation represents a substantial increase over OpenAI's previous capital raise in March, during which the firm raised $122 billion at a post-money valuation of $852 billion. To prioritize compute infrastructure and technical safety work across its research teams, OpenAI has postponed plans for an initial public offering until next year at the earliest. While the headline $30 billion target and pricing parameters emerged during preliminary discussions without named participants, current talks remain active and subject to adjustments before final agreements are signed.

Computing infrastructure and European benchmark

The $30 billion private funding target matches the total financial scope of public infrastructure efforts in Europe, though with distinct funding mechanisms. In July, the European Union opened bidding for seven specialized artificial intelligence gigafactories, with each installation designed to house at least 100,000 computing chips. That European program was established with a 30 billion euro headline budget, structured to draw 10 billion euros from the European Union and member states alongside 20 billion euros from private sector participants. However, only approximately 1 billion euros of public funding has been formally committed to date, with remaining European public contributions contingent on future budget allocations.