As tech anxiety mounts, OpenAI cuts fundraising target by $10 billion.

OpenAI has cut the target for its latest funding round by $10 billion and is racing to finalize the financing. A sell-off in the AI sector on public markets, combined with the impending listing of its top rival Anthropic, has put pressure on the fundraising process. The ChatGPT developer had originally planned last month to raise $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation, describing it as investors' last chance to buy in before its IPO next year. OpenAI said revenue had grown rapidly since July, supporting a valuation that has nearly doubled from $852 billion. Several people familiar with the matter said OpenAI now plans to raise about $20 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation. The company has set a deadline requiring investors to commit their funds by Friday. Some investors have scaled back their subscriptions for this round, and the "first close" is expected to bring in less than $20 billion, the people said. A consortium of UAE investment institutions will be the largest investor in this round, the people added. As part of the deal, OpenAI will gain the option to lease newly built computing resources in the region. Venture firms including Founders Fund, Coatue, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, also plan to participate in the round, the people said. A retail placement will follow for wealthy individual investors, who can buy in at the $1.25 trillion valuation, potentially pushing the total raised to around $20 billion, one person said.