ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has confidentially filed for a United States initial public offering, joining rival Anthropic in moving toward a stock market debut as investor demand for artificial intelligence companies continues to grow.
According to Al Jazeera, OpenAI did not disclose the size or terms of the offering and said a timeline has not yet been determined. In a statement Monday, the company said, "It may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company."
Reuters previously reported that OpenAI is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion. At that valuation, OpenAI would join Elon Musk's SpaceX in a cluster of trillion-dollar-plus companies heading to public markets in what analysts have described as the most consequential test of investor appetite for high-growth tech stocks in the recent decade. SpaceX has filed for an IPO that would rank as the largest in history if completed, with the company pursuing a $75 billion offering at a $1.75 trillion valuation.
OpenAI said earlier this year that it was raising $110 billion at an $840 billion valuation from a roster of major backers including SoftBank, Amazon, and Nvidia. The company also disclosed at that time that ChatGPT had more than 900 million weekly active users and more than 50 million consumer subscribers.
In March, OpenAI said it was generating $2 billion in monthly revenue and growing roughly four times faster than companies that defined the internet and mobile eras, including Alphabet and Meta. That compares with about $1 billion in quarterly revenue at the end of 2024.
The IPO filing follows OpenAI renegotiating its partnership with Microsoft, one of its earliest investors. Microsoft's total investment in OpenAI has reached $13 billion since 2019. The renegotiated deal allowed OpenAI to forge new partnerships with Amazon and Alphabet's Google unit.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a research-focused nonprofit and created a for-profit arm four years later to help fund the soaring costs of developing artificial intelligence systems.
Anthropic, a competing AI company, has also moved toward an IPO, and both filings are seen as marking a pivotal moment for the technology industry. The pair of potential listings would crystallize a transformative period for global markets, with AI rapidly emerging as the defining investment theme of the decade.
