Microsoft-backed OpenAI's potential new funding round at a valuation of as much as $1.2 trillion is reinforcing Macquarie's view that artificial-intelligence demand remains strong, despite growing debate around whether the current infrastructure boom can continue at the same pace. The reported valuation would put OpenAI above rival Anthropic, which was most recently valued at roughly $965 billion. Macquarie analysts Paul Golding and Alex Luthringer said the funding discussions follow a meaningful rebound in OpenAI's commercial momentum after earlier concerns that Anthropic was gaining ground, noting that OpenAI's reported $40bn ARR is roughly a doubling from earlier this year. They also pointed to GPT-5.6 and Astra as evidence that improved model performance is still translating into additional enterprise and consumer adoption, supporting their view that AI infrastructure is in a supply-constrained position. Macquarie sees the development as supportive for SoftBank (SFTBY), which has significant exposure to OpenAI and also controls chip designer Arm (NASDAQ:ARM), and maintains an Outperform rating on SoftBank. Golding said the development further validates SoftBank Group's broader AI strategy spanning OpenAI, Arm, AI infrastructure, data centers, power assets, and robotics. The key takeaway is that OpenAI's valuation is being supported by a rapidly expanding revenue base, not simply AI enthusiasm, though the risk is that the valuation now assumes continued rapid adoption and heavy infrastructure spending.