In a development that will shock absolutely no one who has been paying attention to the AI bubble, OpenAI's latest funding round is reportedly not going according to plan. Multiple news reports indicate that the company, which was previously said to be raising $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation - and then at a $1.25 trillion valuation - has now lowered its funding target to $20 billion ahead of a planned IPO. Because nothing says "confidence" like a valuation that keeps shrinking faster than your New Year's resolution.

The Financial Times reported Friday that the first close of the round is expected to be even lower than that $20 billion target, with a group of investors from the United Arab Emirates leading the charge. A subsequent retail offering for wealthy individuals could theoretically bring the total to $20 billion, assuming said wealthy individuals aren't too busy checking their portfolios after the recent tech sell-off.

The Wall Street Journal followed up with even more cheerful details: OpenAI has secured $11 billion so far, and its fundraising efforts have met with a "tepid" response from some large investors. Tepid, in this context, presumably meaning "we'll wait and see if the AI hype train derails completely before we commit."

TechCrunch reached out to OpenAI for comment, but we're guessing they're too busy recalculating their spreadsheets. The company's funding challenges can be blamed in part on bad timing - Wall Street investors have grown wary of heavy AI infrastructure spending, leading to a major sell-off of tech stocks. And Anthropic's planned IPO could be facing similar challenges, because nothing says "fun" like a sector-wide reality check.

So while OpenAI dreams of trillion-dollar valuations, the market is offering a gentle reminder that even the most hyped AI company isn't immune to the laws of economics. Who knew?