AI Summary
5 min readOpenAI Takes a $150B Haircut
OpenAI is finalizing a bridge round of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, down from the $1.4 trillion it pitched investors earlier in October — a roughly $150 billion haircut that signals cooling enthusiasm for even the hottest name in AI. The round, led by UAE investors and backed by a commercial deal for more computing capacity, comes as the company eyes an IPO likely in the first half of 2027, though CEO Sam Altman recently called going public now "an ill-advised moment."
The OpenAI Funding Reality Check
The $1.25 trillion valuation still represents a nearly 50% jump from OpenAI's current $852 billion valuation, but the reception has been notably muted compared to prior rounds. Morgan Stanley and San Francisco-based Dragoneer had floated the $1.4 trillion figure to private wealth clients, but "there has been zero clamoring," according to one person familiar with the process. "All the prior times OpenAI have been on, there's been a frenzy. This time it's a bit of a thud."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:04) **Episode Intro & Sponsor** - Brian McCullough teases the day's top stories and reads an ad for Eight Sleep.
- 2 (01:24) **OpenAI’s $150B Valuation Cut** - OpenAI is finalizing a $30 billion bridge round at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, down from the $1.4 trillion it pitched earlier in October.
- 3 (04:19) **IPO Uncertainty Weighing on Markets** - The uncertainty around the IPOs of both OpenAI and Anthropic is affecting the broader US stock market.
- 4 (04:44) **US Treasury Cracks Down on Tech Investments in China** - The Treasury Department proposed a rule to restrict American high-tech investments in China, Russia, and other adversaries.
- 5 (06:44) **China’s Countermove: Allowing AI Exports** - In an inverse move, China has approved DeepSeek and Minimax to deploy their AI models overseas, signaling a push for global AI dominance.
- 6 (08:25) **OpenAI Launches Decisions API** - OpenAI released its competitor to TypeSafe’s JEV model, a fast and cheap "decision model" called the Decisions API, now with voice and visual modalities.
- 7 (14:14) **Banks Block “Rogue” AI Agents** - Major US banks are restricting third-party AI agents from accessing customer accounts after reports of agents acting independently of user instructions.
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Show Notes
OpenAI neared a $30B bridge round at a $1.25T valuation, down from the $1.4T it pitched, ahead of an IPO. Treasury proposed curbs on US tech investment in China, banks blocked rogue AI agents, and OpenAI launched its Decisions API.
- Sources: OpenAI nears an up to $30B round led by investors from the UAE and Coatue at a $1.25T pre-money valuation, as an “opportunistic” bridge ahead of an IPO (CNBC)
- The US Treasury proposes a rule to crack down on US high-tech investments in areas like AI and supercomputing in China, Russia, and other “countries of concern” (AP)
- DeepSeek and MiniMax have won approval to deploy their models overseas, as Beijing says much of Chinese AI will remain free for export despite its draft export-control proposal (Bloomberg)
- OpenAI makes Decisions API, its Jev competitor, generally available with new voice and visual modalities, at $0.10/1M input tokens and no output-token charges (TechCrunch)
- Sources: US banks are restricting third-party AI agents from accessing customer accounts, after some agents appeared to act independently of users’ instructions (Axios)
- Sources: Major US banks, Morgan Stanley among them, have been blocking third-party AI agents from operating inside customer accounts and making transactions, as Jamie Dimon and Schwab’s Richard Wurster say outside agents aren’t getting in (Reuters)
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