OpenAI reportedly completed the first closing of an $11 billion funding round at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, while Anthropic’s target valuation for a future IPO has fallen from $2 trillion to $1.2–1.3 trillion. Capital enthusiasm across the AI industry is cooling.
We note that neither company has officially confirmed the reported funding and valuation figures. Some figures come from media reports citing people familiar with the matter and may still be adjusted. Even so, these changes point to a clearer conclusion: investors are beginning to require AI companies to prove that revenue growth can cover continuously expanding compute costs, rather than paying premium valuations solely for long-term stories.
What this is
Put simply, this was a week when financing conditions tightened simultaneously for two leading AI companies. According to Bloomberg and other media reports, OpenAI had planned to raise $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation. The first $11 billion has now arrived, and the full round could total around $20 billion. Anthropic’s target valuation has also fallen from the rumored $2 trillion mentioned when it first filed for an IPO to $1.2–1.3 trillion under discussion with institutional investors, with some institutions even proposing a delay.
More significant than the valuations is Ramp’s corporate spending data: AI spending growth fell from 42% in July to just 1.5% in August and September, even as Token consumption continued to rise. Tokens are the units used to measure how models process information such as text and code. When usage increases while spending growth slows, it may mean price cuts are consuming part of the revenue growth.
Anthropic has disclosed approximately $895.4 billion in future compute and infrastructure commitments, turning the industry’s previously verbal “cash burn” into a concrete liability. The anchor for capital valuation is therefore shifting from growth narratives toward cash flow and cost control.
Industry view
Optimists argue that this does not signal vanishing demand; it means the market wants a more reasonable entry price. AI usage continues to grow, model prices keep falling, and products such as Gemini’s video capabilities and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash continue expanding their price-performance advantages. If Anthropic completes its roadshow and secures a favorable valuation, it could show that the market is merely compressing the premium rather than rejecting the prospect of AI commercialization.
The risks, however, are equally clear: the sharp slowdown in corporate spending growth suggests customers may simply be using more units of cheaper services rather than steadily increasing budgets. If Anthropic’s massive compute commitments are combined with a delayed IPO, financing pressure could translate into further API price cuts, tighter free usage allowances, and changes to vendor partnership terms. The reported OpenAI funding figures still rely on a single source, while Anthropic’s range represents valuation discussions among investors. Neither should be treated as a final result.
Impact on regular people
For enterprise IT: The near-term procurement environment may be more favorable, as model vendors still have incentives to cut prices and expand subscription benefits to win usage. But when evaluating vendors, companies should include long-term price commitments, service stability, and migration costs in contracts rather than looking only at current unit prices.
For individual professionals: Cheaper models and more generous allowances will make it easier to deepen the use of AI tools. At the same time, businesses will pay closer attention to quantifiable returns, shifting the focus of workplace learning from “knowing how to use the tools” to reliably completing workflows and saving time or labor.
For the consumer market: Free allowances, subscription tiers, and video generation prices may continue falling in the short term, giving users access to more capable features. But if financing pressure continues to pass through the stack, consumer-facing companies may also reduce subsidies and shift costs toward clearer paid plans.