OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with leading investors in the Middle East to organize a new funding round of at least $50 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Sources indicate that the entrepreneur held talks with representatives from some of the largest sovereign wealth funds in Abu Dhabi.

The ChatGPT developer aims to raise $50 billion or more, with a valuation between $750 billion and $830 billion. Discussions are still in the early stages, and the amount may change.

Additionally, OpenAI has discussed with Amazon the possibility of securing at least $10 billion.

Previously, MGX, a technology investment firm from Abu Dhabi, invested in the company. Altman's startup also entered into a partnership with G42 to create a massive data center in the United Arab Emirates.

OpenAI's Financial Troubles

OpenAI reported over $20 billion in revenue for 2025, a tenfold increase from 2023. However, the rapid increase in cash flow is not enough to keep the company profitable.

In November, experts analyzed leaked financial information and concluded that the startup may still be spending more on inference than it earns.

In January, The Information published a report citing internal financial projections from OpenAI. The document states that the company is expected to lose approximately $14-17 billion in 2026, with net outflows reaching $44 billion by the end of 2028.

However, the company plans to achieve profitability of $14 billion by 2029.

The report also claims that the ChatGPT developer intends to spend $200 billion by the end of the decade, with 60-80% of the funds allocated for training and launching AI models.

In December, analysts at Deutsche Bank provided even more pessimistic figures, estimating that Altman's company will face a cumulative negative cash flow of $143 billion by 2029, excluding obligations for building data centers costing $1.4 trillion.

"No startup in the world has operated with losses of this magnitude," the experts noted.

Additionally, there is a lawsuit from Elon Musk for $134 billion.

Time to Exit?

Noted investor George Noble stated that he has witnessed company collapses for decades, and OpenAI shows all the signs of an impending crash.

OPENAI IS FALLING APART IN REAL TIME

I've watched companies implode for decades.

This one has all the warning signs.

OpenAI declared "Code Red" in December.

Altman sent an internal memo telling employees to drop everything because Google's Gemini 3 is eating their lunch.… pic.twitter.com/D9iJwOOmMe

— George Noble (@gnoble79) January 20, 2026

Among the warning signs he identified are:

  • The "Code Red" declared in December due to Google’s Gemini 3 "taking their lunch." Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff publicly abandoned ChatGPT in favor of Gemini after just two hours of use;
  • A decline in chatbot traffic in November, marking the second monthly drop in 2025, while Gemini recorded 650 million users per month;
  • Financial losses—OpenAI spends $15 million a day just on Sora and $5 billion a year on "creating copyright-infringing memes";
  • Lack of innovation—reports showed that in 2025, the company failed to create AI models that surpassed previous versions;
  • Users described GPT-5 as "terrible";
  • Talent exodus;
  • Lawsuit from Musk.

Noble advises to "look for an exit" from the AI sector.

"Sell at the height of the hype, before the music stops," he stated.

In October, OpenAI allowed current and former employees to sell shares worth $6.6 billion. In this deal, the startup was valued at $500 billion—a record for private companies.

It’s worth noting that the same month, plans were revealed for the company to conduct an IPO with a valuation of $1 trillion.