OpenAI is in discussions with several Emirati investment funds, including Abu Dhabi-based MGX, to secure their participation as major investors in a new funding round of at least $30 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The funds involved may form an investment consortium contributing a combined total of up to $10 billion. BlackRock is also in talks to join the round and may invest alongside the consortium. The financing is still in progress, and the final investment size and participants could change.

Beyond Emirati capital and BlackRock, OpenAI has also held discussions with existing backer the University of California endowment about participating in the round, while Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz have also discussed the possibility of additional investment.

According to earlier reports, OpenAI is seeking to raise at least $30 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion, and has pushed back its initial public offering plans to at least next year in order to focus on AI safety work. In March of this year, OpenAI had just completed a funding round of $122 billion, at which time the company was valued at $852 billion. If the current deal is completed as planned, its valuation will have climbed substantially in roughly half a year.

Unlike a typical venture capital financing, the people said, OpenAI has not yet determined a lead investor for this round, yet has already presented the $1.4 trillion pre-money valuation to potential investors as a fixed price. Normally, investment institutions submit financing terms and negotiate with the company over valuation and lead investor arrangements.

OpenAI's pursuit of Middle Eastern capital comes as spending on infrastructure such as chips, data centers and power needed to develop and run frontier AI models continues to climb. Leading AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic have turned repeatedly in recent years to deep-pocketed Middle Eastern investors to meet their enormous capital needs. MGX has previously participated in funding rounds for both OpenAI and Anthropic. Earlier this year, the Abu Dhabi investment firm also raised close to $50 billion to accelerate investment in AI infrastructure and technology.

If Emirati funds ultimately become major contributors to this OpenAI funding round, it would further highlight the participation of Middle Eastern capital in the global AI investment boom.