Initial public offering of OpenAI

The initial public offering (IPO) of OpenAI, an American artificial intelligence company founded by Sam Altman, is planned to occur in 2027. OpenAI filed confidentially for an IPO on June 8, 2026. It was later delayed due to a combination of factors including investor sentiment, the planned IPO of its rival Anthropic and safety incidents of its models.

Expectations

The IPO was initally planned for September and it was expected to be one of the biggest ever. OpenAI was working in May with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for the starting paperwork.

It announced it was going public one week after Antropic announced similar plans. Richard Crowley from Singapore Management University said that the two IPOs were "intrinsically intertwined through the public's perception of the generative AI space". The company claimed in September they planned to delay their IPO over the capabilities of their models which had caused the rogue agent breach of Hugging Face, the Australian Government's Medicare and mathematical capabilities shown in their bulk release of mathematical papers.

Expectations for the value and for a 2026 IPO were reduced after the collapse of inflated stocks of SpaceX after its IPO. This, and wider anxieties about tech stocks, lowered investor sentiment for the event. Additionally, the planned IPO of Anthropic, a key rival, forced slower financing as its revenue overtook OpenAI in earlier in the year.

Anthropic's IPO is likely to affect investor sentiment for AI and therefore influence the valuation when OpenAI goes public.

In early October, they aimed for a $1.4 trillion valuation, but faced pushback from investors who were wary of investing before seeing Anthropic's IPO. In anticipation, it raised $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation in an October 2026 funding round.

References

  1. ↑ Wang, Echo; Hu, Krystal; Valle, Sabrina; Wang, Echo; Hu, Krystal; Valle, Sabrina (2026-10-19). "EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI seeks to accelerate fundraising ahead of Anthropic IPO, sources say". Reuters. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  2. ↑ Metz, Cade (2026-06-08). "OpenAI Files to Go Public as A.I. Companies Rush to Wall St". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  3. ↑ Reuters (2026-09-12). "OpenAI IPO will not happen in 2026 amid AI safety fears, Sam Altman says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-10-31. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ "Sam Altman says OpenAI will delay its IPO until it overcomes safety concerns". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  5. ↑ "BBC News - OpenAI Delays IPO Over AI Safety Concerns". BBC. 2026-09-13. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  6. ↑ Isaac, Mike; Metz, Cade (2026-05-20). "OpenAI Prepares to File to Go Public in Coming Weeks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  7. ↑ Isaac, Mike; Metz, Cade (2026-05-20). "OpenAI Prepares to File to Go Public in Coming Weeks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  8. 1 2 "OpenAI plans stock market debut, setting up new race with Anthropic". BBC News. 2026-06-08. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  9. ↑ "OpenAI scraps rollout of new AI model over safety concerns". BBC News. 2026-09-29. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  10. ↑ "BBC News - OpenAI Delays IPO Over AI Safety Concerns". BBC. 2026-09-13. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  11. ↑ Copeland, Rob; Isaac, Mike (2026-06-25). "OpenAI Leans Toward Waiting Until Next Year for I.P.O." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  12. ↑ "OpenAI slashes funding target by $10bn as tech anxieties mount". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  13. ↑ Muppidi, Sri (2026-09-16). "OpenAI Considers New Financing at a $1.5 Trillion Valuation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  14. ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Warner, Bernhard; Kessler, Sarah; Merced, Michael J. de la; Gallogly, Niko; O’Keefe, Brian; Muppidi, Sri; Hirsch, Lauren; Mount, Ian (2026-10-27). "Who Stands to Gain From an Anthropic I.P.O." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  15. ↑ Bort, Julie (2026-10-22). "OpenAI working on new $30B raise at $1.25T valuation ahead of IPO". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  16. ↑ "OpenAI trims valuation target to $1.25tn after pitching higher price". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2026-10-31.
  17. ↑ Capoot, Kate Rooney,Ashley (2026-10-22). "OpenAI nears up to $30 billion funding round at $1.25 trillion valuation led by UAE investors". CNBC. Retrieved 2026-10-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)