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OpenAI nears 1st phase of $100 bn funding round
Financial Express Lucknow
|February 20, 2026
OPENAI IS CLOSE to finalis-ing the first phase of a new funding round that is likely to bring in more than $100 billion,according to people familiar with the matter, a record-breaking financing deal that would give the startup additional capital to build out its artificial intelligence tools.
As the ChatGPT maker prepares to spend trillions in infrastructure investment, the overall valuation of the company, including the eventual funding, could exceed $850 billion, according to some of the people. That’s higher than the $830 billion initially expected. The company’s pre-money value will remain $730 billion, said one person, all of whom asked not to be identified discussing private information.
This story is from the February 20, 2026 edition of Financial Express Lucknow.
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