September 17, 2026 - Economic Insider

OpenAI Funding Talks Could Value Company Above $1.2 Trillion

Economic Insider Staff 2 on September 17, 2026

OpenAI funding talks could value the ChatGPT maker above $1.2 trillion, according to multiple reports. The discussions follow a $122 billion March financing and come as the company rules out a 2026 IPO, placing renewed attention on its private valuation, revenue trajectory, product expansion and need for substantial computing capacity.

Key Takeaways

OpenAI is discussing another private funding round, with reported valuation figures ranging from above $1.2 trillion to about $1.5 trillion
The company closed a $122 billion round on March 31 at an $852 billion post-money valuation
OpenAI submitted a confidential draft S-1 in June, but Altman said the company will not go public in 2026
Axios reported that OpenAI says it is on track to exceed $40 billion in annualized revenue

No completed transaction has been announced. The differing figures reinforce that the valuation remains under discussion rather than established.

Days before the financing reports emerged, CEO Sam Altman confirmed that a public listing would not happen this year. “I would say not 2026,” Altman told Fortune when asked about the timetable.

OpenAI Funding Talks Put a $1.2 Trillion-Plus Valuation in Focus

The latest OpenAI funding discussions would mark another substantial change in the company’s private valuation if a round closes near the figures now being reported. At $1.2 trillion, the valuation would stand roughly 41% above the $852 billion post-money level OpenAI announced in March.

Bloomberg reported that the conversations were initiated by outside backers and that any decision to proceed could depend on when OpenAI chooses to enter public markets. Reuters likewise described the talks as preliminary, meaning the amount raised, participating firms and final valuation could still change.

The New York Times added a higher figure on Sept. 16, reporting that OpenAI was considering financing at roughly $1.5 trillion. That figure does not establish a final price. Instead, current reporting points to a range under discussion rather than a single agreed valuation.

Private-company valuations are also tied to the terms of a specific financing transaction. They are different from a public-company market capitalization, which changes as publicly traded shares move in price.

The discussions arrive during a period of substantial computing expansion across the technology sector. Broader AI infrastructure spending has placed greater attention on hyperscalers, data centers and the cost of supplying the computing resources required by advanced AI systems.

March Financing Sets the Benchmark for the Next Round

OpenAI’s March 31 financing provides the clearest confirmed benchmark for the current talks. The company said it closed the round with $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation.

OpenAI tied that financing to research, product development, broader access and computing capacity. Its announcement specifically identified ChatGPT, its developer platform and Codex as parts of the company’s expanding operations.

The company also described durable access to computing resources as strategically important to research, product performance and delivery at scale. That framing makes the size of another potential financing round relevant to how OpenAI supports infrastructure expansion while remaining privately held.

Revenue reporting provides another piece of context. Axios reported on Sept. 3 that OpenAI says it is on track to exceed $40 billion in annualized revenue. The Wall Street Journal separately reported $6.7 billion in revenue for the second quarter, up from $5.7 billion in the first quarter.

Those figures have not been presented through public-company financial filings. Annualized revenue also differs from full-year booked revenue because it extends a recent sales pace across a 12-month period.

Product activity has accelerated at the same time. OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra on Sept. 3 and described it as its most capable broadly deployed model. The company has also continued expanding Codex, its software-development product, which has appeared prominently in recent reporting surrounding OpenAI’s business momentum.

The scale of those products keeps computing requirements central to the company’s financial picture. Rising data center demand across the AI sector provides additional context for why model developers continue seeking greater access to chips, cloud capacity and related infrastructure.

IPO Timing Becomes Central to OpenAI’s Funding Decision

The possible new round is closely tied to OpenAI’s public-listing timetable. On June 8, the company announced that it had confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission while making clear that it had not decided when to proceed.

That timeline became clearer in September. In his Fortune interview, Altman said the company was not rushing toward an IPO and indicated that 2026 was off the table. Reuters separately reported the same position following the interview.

A listing in 2027 or later remains possible, but OpenAI has not announced a date. Another private financing before then could provide additional capital while allowing the company more flexibility over when it enters public markets.

The timing also explains why the latest discussions matter beyond the headline valuation. A completed round would establish a new private-market reference point before a potential IPO, while a decision not to proceed would leave the March financing as OpenAI’s latest confirmed benchmark.

For readers tracking OpenAI funding, the central facts remain limited but significant. The talks are preliminary, reported valuations begin above $1.2 trillion and may extend considerably higher, final terms have not been disclosed, and OpenAI has ruled out a 2026 public listing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is OpenAI’s reported new valuation?

Current reports place the discussions above $1.2 trillion, while The New York Times reported a figure around $1.5 trillion. OpenAI has not announced a completed round or confirmed a final valuation.

How much did OpenAI raise in March 2026?

OpenAI said on March 31 that it closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation. That remains the company’s latest publicly confirmed financing benchmark.

Is OpenAI going public in 2026?

No. CEO Sam Altman said in September that OpenAI will not go public in 2026, although the company submitted a confidential draft S-1 in June.

Why are the OpenAI funding talks significant?

The OpenAI funding discussions could establish a substantially higher private valuation before a future public listing. They also come as reported revenue rises and the company continues expanding products including GPT-6 Astra and Codex.

Why Every CEO Needs an Executive Assistant Who Thinks Ahead

Economic Insider Staff on September 17, 2026

Most CEOs know the feeling. The calendar is full. The targets are in sight. And somewhere in the middle of it all, a stack of tasks has nothing to do with why they took the role in the first place.

The uncomfortable truth is that most CEOs are still handling work they should have delegated months ago. Not because they cannot find help. Because the help they found required more management than it saved.

The difference between an assistant who waits for instructions and one who thinks ahead isn’t small. It is the difference between hiring a cost and building an asset.

What Separates an Assistant Who Waits From One Who Thinks Ahead

The distinction sounds subtle until a CEO experiences it.

A reactive assistant handles tasks. A proactive one handles outcomes. A reactive assistant schedules what they are told to schedule. A proactive one looks at the calendar two weeks out, notices a gap before a board meeting, and prepares a briefing without being asked.

DonnaPro has built its entire model around this distinction. Every assistant placed through DonnaPro is trained to operate proactively. Not just executing. Thinking ahead.

The hiring process is rigorous. DonnaPro rejects more than 99% of applicants. The people who make it through are trusted to support founders, CEOs, and operators who expect a very high standard.

Every Donna goes through a six-stage selection process. Multiple rounds of interviews. Demo task assessments. Reference checks. Personality evaluation. Then two weeks of intensive training before any client work begins.

CEOs are not adding a freelancer to manage. They are adding a professional backed by a system.

The Compounding Cost of Reactive Support on CEO Performance

Here is what research on executive productivity shows. CEOs who manage administrative and operational tasks alongside strategic work pay a compounding cost. The mental friction of task-switching between high-level thinking and low-level task management reduces the quality of both.

The cost is not just time. It is cognitive capacity lost during the most strategic hours of the day.

Studies on executive time allocation show that leaders who delegate administrative work early recover an average of 15 to 20 hours per week. That time does not just disappear. It goes somewhere. CEOs who reclaim it report spending more time on revenue-generating activity, strategic planning, and the relationship-building that drives long-term growth.

DonnaPro is built to take a meaningful volume of administrative and operational work off a CEO’s plate each month. What matters is not the raw hours saved, but what the CEO does with the time that opens up. Time cleared becomes strategic capacity gained.

This becomes especially visible in Q4. The busiest quarter is when the cost of undelegated work is highest. And it is the worst time to start recruiting, because recruiting takes months. The CEO who enters Q4 without delegation infrastructure is already behind.

Why Hiring Help Is Not the Same as Building an Asset

Most executive assistant services are marketplaces. CEOs browse profiles, run interviews, manage the relationship, and hope it works out.

The problem with that model is not the people. It is the infrastructure behind it.

When a CEO hires a freelancer from a platform, they inherit the full complexity of recruitment, training, management, and replacement if it doesn’t work out. The hours saved by getting help are often consumed by the hours spent managing it.

“The goal is a specific shift,” says Filip Pesek, founder of DonnaPro. “From reactive task-executor to proactive thinking partner. When an assistant understands why something matters, what good looks like, and where they have freedom to make decisions, they stop waiting for instruction and start thinking ahead.”

That shift is what turns an assistant from a cost into an asset. It is also what most executive assistant services fail to deliver. Because they do not build the system behind it.

The Standard CEOs Should Expect

CEOs who consistently hit their targets aren’t working more hours. They are working at a different level.

That level requires protection. The right assistant protects it. The wrong one adds to the noise.

With DonnaPro, CEOs get a fully trained executive assistant ready to start working in just 9 days. Not because the process is rushed. Because the system is already built. Every assistant is vetted, trained, and supported before a CEO ever comes on board.

The path forward for CEOs who are ready to stop managing their assistant and start using one is simple. Build the system first. Then use it.