OpenAI is also beginning to feel the cold shoulder from capital markets. According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI’s latest funding round was originally planned to raise $30 billion, but so far, it has secured only about $11 billion in committed investments—less than half of its target. Even more awkwardly, the valuation it initially hoped to achieve—$1.4 trillion—has been lowered to $1.25 trillion. The Financial Times further revealed that OpenAI has already reduced its funding target from $30 billion to $20 billion and is preparing to continue raising capital from family offices and high-net-worth individual investors. Interestingly, OpenAI had previously tried to position this round as the final opportunity to invest before an IPO, aiming to generate FOMO among investors. But now, even OpenAI can no longer easily raise funds using this tactic. The market is recalculating the return on AI investments: Can model revenue growth keep pace with compute expenditures? What level of profitability is actually needed to justify valuations in the trillions? $11 billion is still an astronomical sum—but for a company valued at over $1 trillion that is still burning cash at a rapid pace, this cooling reception sends a significant signal. After all, when even OpenAI needs to lower its valuation to raise funds, other AI companies will face an even more discerning capital market ahead.