OpenAI has cut the target for its latest funding round by $10 billion, the Financial Times reported late on October 30, citing people familiar with the matter. The ChatGPT maker is now seeking about $20 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, down from the $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation it was pitching last month. OpenAI set a Friday deadline for investors to commit, but the first close is expected to come in below even the reduced $20 billion after some investors cut their allocations.

A consortium of United Arab Emirates investors, including state-backed fund MGX, is expected to be the largest participant, with OpenAI getting an option to lease newly built computing capacity in the region as part of the deal. SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Coatue, Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz are also expected to take part, and wealthy individuals would be offered a later retail tranche at the same $1.25 trillion valuation.

This revises the bridge round the Wire covered as a rumor on October 22, then reported at $30 billion and a $1.25 trillion valuation. The cut lands in the middle of a sharp AI-led stock sell-off and just as Anthropic's public listing approaches. OpenAI, which raised $122 billion in March at an $852 billion valuation, did not comment on the report, and the terms remain unconfirmed — treat the new figures as rumor-grade until the round closes.