Prof G Markets · Friday, July 10, 2026
Mallaby questioned the reported $122 billion raised by OpenAI, stating that a significant portion was conditional future promises rather than immediate funds. He suggests this tactic is an attempt to create an illusion of momentum.
“If you look at the fundraising they did and announced earlier this year, the headline number they raised was $122 billion.”
“But when you dig into, and I'm amazed the press didn't point this out more, about two-thirds of that amount was kind of promises in the future, conditional upon having a successful IPO or payment in kind, like, you know, access to compute.”
“The actual real money was a small share of the total fundraising.”