San Francisco, May 24, 2026, 11:03 PDT
OpenAI plans to submit confidential paperwork for a U.S. IPO within weeks, a step that could see the ChatGPT developer hitting the public markets by September. According to Reuters, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are on board to help draft the prospectus. Kat Liu, vice president at IPOX, noted that the resolution of a big legal dispute has “removed a major obstacle to an IPO.” Reuters
OpenAI could file its draft listing documents confidentially with U.S. regulators, keeping financial information out of the public eye for now. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires that companies choosing this route disclose the registration statement and draft filings publicly at least 15 days ahead of any investor road show—or, if there’s no road show, before the effective date they ask for.
That’s suddenly relevant, with OpenAI eyeing a move that would put the AI heavyweight on the public-market clock right as investors face mounting asks for funding—bigger chips, sprawling data centers, and pricier model builds. The Financial Times, citing sources Saturday, pointed to SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic as possible candidates to turn 2026 into a banner year for U.S. IPOs, a test for public investors sizing up lofty price tags and big red ink.
This comes on the heels of a jury in Oakland, California, tossing out Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, saying he waited too long to file. Wedbush’s Dan Ives described the decision as a “huge win for Altman and OpenAI.” Musk, for his part, says an appeal is in the works. Reuters
There’s still no set timeline from OpenAI. The company “regularly evaluate[s] a range of strategic options,” a spokesperson told Axios, stressing: “Our focus remains on execution.” Axios
The latest funding round put the company’s valuation at $852 billion, with $122 billion in capital committed, Reuters said in April. Speaking to CNBC at the time, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar pointed to “really strong demand” from individual investors, adding that for a company as big as OpenAI, it’s “healthy” to “act … like a public company.” Reuters
The generative AI field is getting more crowded. In April, ChatGPT pulled in 54% of the sector’s traffic, according to Similarweb figures cited by Reuters Breakingviews. But Ramp’s business-spending data for the same month indicates Anthropic’s usage edged out OpenAI’s. Google, part of Alphabet, remains a heavyweight competitor, leveraging both financial muscle and reach to ratchet up the stakes on pricing and how fast products hit the market.
SpaceX is shaking things up. The IPO filing released this week puts the company’s valuation goal at $1.75 trillion, despite reporting operating losses for the first quarter. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan are named as bookrunners.
But things might not move in a straight line. Factors like the SEC’s review, shifting market sentiment, a potential Musk appeal, and nagging investor worries about how fast AI firms are burning through cash could push back the timeline or knock down the valuation. Ameriprise’s Anthony Saglimbene put it to Reuters this way: once the initial frenzy fades, these companies will have to “show exactly what their profits are.” Reuters
OpenAI’s first real moment in the spotlight comes with its S-1 registration statement—the document spelling out revenue, losses, risks, and share structure. That’s still to come. For now, everyone’s staring at the valuation, but the bigger issue: just how much appetite does Wall Street have for growth that demands so much more capital?
