SAN FRANCISCO, June 8, 2026, 05:05 PDT
OpenAI is gearing up for its most ambitious shake-up of ChatGPT so far, the Financial Times reported Sunday, aiming to transform the chatbot into a “superapp” that brings coding features and AI agents together in one place. The planned redesign would highlight Codex, push users toward image creation and integrations with platforms like Canva and Booking.com, and arrives as OpenAI claims ChatGPT has topped 900 million weekly active users plus over 50 million paying subscribers. Reuters
Timing is key here, with investors now eyeing AI companies on the public stage instead of chasing private valuations. SpaceX’s IPO? Reportedly oversubscribed by more than two times. But the offering lands just as chip stocks face headwinds, oil surges, and traders brace for tighter U.S. policy thanks to robust payrolls.
Reuters reported back in May that OpenAI is getting ready to confidentially file for a U.S. IPO in the next few weeks, according to a source familiar with the plans. Kat Liu, vice president at IPOX, pointed out that settling a legal dispute with Elon Musk “gave OpenAI the confidence to accelerate its timeline.” Reuters also noted that the company is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, targeting a public debut as early as September. Reuters
Submitting a confidential IPO filing isn’t the same as issuing a public prospectus. The SEC examines the company’s draft registration statement behind closed doors, but the business still has to make that registration statement—and the draft submissions—public at least 15 days ahead of a roadshow, or, if there won’t be one, 15 days before the effective date they request.
Anthropic jumped first. The Claude developer quietly filed for a U.S. IPO on June 1, after its latest $65 billion raise pushed its post-money valuation to $965 billion—topping OpenAI’s last known number. Now, OpenAI can simply wait and see how institutional investors respond, according to PitchBook senior analyst Harrison Rolfes, who called it “a free option to watch how institutional investors react” before they settle on their own price. Reuters
SpaceX stands out as another big factor. Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite firm is reportedly setting its IPO at $135 per share, aiming to raise $75 billion and hit a $1.75 trillion valuation, according to Reuters, which cited unnamed sources. Weiheng Chen, a senior partner at Wilson Sonsini, described Musk’s fixed pricing as a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer—one he says fits both market conditions and the scarcity of close peers. Reuters
Fund managers have begun bracing for the expected cash outflows. According to Reuters, some large mutual and passive index funds are already building up cash reserves, and could sell off portions of their existing large-cap portfolios to make space for potential SpaceX and OpenAI listings. John Flood at Goldman Sachs noted investors are now “increasingly focused” on how a wave of big IPOs might shake up the market. Reuters
There’s a catch: OpenAI may find the AI boom cooling before it’s equipped for the moment. According to Reuters Breakingviews, OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX are all pushing toward IPOs, hungry for capital to chase outsized goals. But Jeremy Grantham isn’t sold on the narrative that Big Tech will keep churning out extraordinary profits. “People think all seven of them are going to make obscene profits. Well, that would be new,” the veteran investor said. Reuters
OpenAI’s product revamp doubles as a pitch for its eventual IPO, not just a facelift for its interface. The addition of coding tools and AI agents aims to nudge revenue toward businesses and high-spending users. Still, once a prospectus hits, public investors will demand audited figures on revenue, compute expenses, and losses.
The company’s in a tight spot here: it needs to act quickly to prevent Anthropic and SpaceX from shaping the story, but rushing could put it in front of Wall Street before its financials make sense.
