On October 6, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI is in talks with several UAE investment funds over participation in its latest funding round, which is expected to raise at least $30 billion. Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX and other UAE funds are reportedly discussing forming an investment group, with their combined investment potentially reaching $10 billion.
BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset managers, is also reportedly in discussions with OpenAI about joining the round. The talks are still ongoing, and the final investment amounts, deal structure and list of participating investors have not yet been finalized.
If completed, the deal would mark another major funding round for OpenAI this year.
OpenAI is targeting a $1.4 trillion valuation
The size of the funding is not the only part attracting attention. OpenAI is also reportedly seeking a valuation of around $1.4 trillion before the new investment.
That would represent a significant increase from the roughly $852 billion valuation attached to the company’s previous major funding round in March.
OpenAI raised around $122 billion in that round, one of the largest private-company funding deals ever recorded. Just months later, the company is once again looking for tens of billions of dollars in fresh capital.
Much of that money is expected to support continued spending on AI model development and computing infrastructure.
As models become larger and more demanding, the cost of training and running them continues to rise. Data centers, GPUs and electricity have become major parts of the AI race, requiring companies such as OpenAI to secure large amounts of capital well ahead of actual returns.
UAE investors are deepening their AI bets
The potential participation of UAE investors is not entirely new.
MGX has previously invested in OpenAI and has also been building a broader portfolio across artificial intelligence and related infrastructure. In recent years, sovereign wealth funds and investment institutions from the Middle East have increased their exposure to AI companies, semiconductor technologies and data centers.
For the UAE, AI has increasingly become part of a broader investment strategy aimed at building new sources of economic growth beyond traditional energy industries.
A potential investment of up to $10 billion in OpenAI would further underline the scale of that strategy.
BlackRock brings another type of capital
BlackRock’s reported involvement adds another dimension to the deal.
Unlike investors focused primarily on technology and venture capital, BlackRock manages a huge pool of global assets and has increasingly invested in areas including data centers and digital infrastructure.
If BlackRock ultimately joins the round, OpenAI would be bringing together a mix of technology investors, sovereign capital and major institutional asset managers.
OpenAI has already received continued financial backing from investors including SoftBank. The company is now preparing for another large fundraising effort as it expands its models, computing capacity and infrastructure.
The latest talks have yet to produce a final deal, but the scale of the proposed financing shows how much capital is now required to compete at the top end of the AI industry.
For OpenAI, the next stage of the race is no longer just about building stronger models. It is also about having enough capital and computing infrastructure to keep building them at scale.