CNBC reported on Nov. 13 that OpenAI has just completed its latest private funding round of $15 billion (about RMB 100.3 billion), with a pre-money valuation of $1.25 trillion (about RMB 8.36 trillion).
That is well above the roughly $11 billion previously floated in the media, and the deal has not yet officially closed; it is expected to be finalized within a few weeks. People in the industry describe it as "opportunistic financing"—the core purpose being to build up a war chest ahead of an IPO expected to launch in 2027.
A $10 Billion Wound on the BooksBehind the ammunition is conspicuous bleeding. Data from The Wall Street Journal shows that OpenAI's revenue in the third quarter of this year was about $10 billion, up nearly 50% quarter over quarter; but its operating loss for the same period also hit $10.9 billion, higher than the $10.1 billion in the second quarter. Although its adjusted operating margin narrowed from about -150% to -109%, it remained deeply negative. Capital-intensive investments in model training, inference services, and data centers still leave the company far from sustainable profitability.
The real comparison is next door: Anthropic is preparing to list on Nasdaq and plans to ring the bell on Nov. 19. Reuters says its IPO valuation could reach as high as about $1.4 trillion (about RMB 9.36 trillion).
The two companies do not use the same definitions for equity incentives, charitable spending, and other items, so directly comparing profit margins requires caution; but as they successively move toward going public, investors will finally be able to use financial statements to go head-to-head on their revenue growth and cash-burn efficiency.
