San Francisco, June 8, 2026, 07:13 PDT
OpenAI is gearing up for what could be ChatGPT’s largest revamp since it hit the market, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The company wants to push ChatGPT into “superapp” territory, adding coding features and AI agents—software tools that handle complex, multi-step tasks without constant user direction—to help boost revenue ahead of a potential IPO. Financial Times
This matters for OpenAI as it seeks to convince public-market investors that ChatGPT isn’t just a mass-consumed chatbot. The bigger pitch: a business platform, steering users toward paid options for coding, design, image work, and workflow tools.
OpenAI is getting ready for a confidential U.S. IPO filing in the next few weeks, according to a Reuters report from May 20. Targeting a public debut as soon as September, the company is drafting its prospectus with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and most recently carried a $852 billion valuation. Reuters also noted that OpenAI has already revised its product plans twice amid mounting competition from Google and Anthropic.
OpenAI is planning a ChatGPT overhaul that puts Codex, its coding tool, front and center, with the redesign set to roll out to ChatGPT’s web and mobile apps in the next few weeks, according to the FT report cited by Reuters. Reuters noted it was unable to independently confirm the information, and said OpenAI had yet to respond to a request for comment.
OpenAI is moving Codex into new territory outside its developer base. On June 2, the company reported Codex now tops 5 million weekly active users—a jump of over six times since the desktop app went live in February. Non-developers account for about 20% and are expanding their numbers at more than triple the pace of developers, according to OpenAI.
The IPO story hinges on that product logic. OpenAI is pushing for more activity within ChatGPT itself, not beyond its walls. The reported redesign, the FT report (via Reuters) says, is set to nudge users toward things like coding, image generation, and tapping partner offerings—think Canva, Booking.com, and others.
Anthropic just upped the pressure on OpenAI’s calendar. The Claude developer disclosed on June 1 that it’s filed a confidential draft S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the standard paperwork spelling out business details and risks ahead of an IPO. No word yet on share count or pricing—Anthropic says the offering hinges on market conditions.
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude Code coding assistant, last pulled in $65 billion at a post-money valuation of $965 billion, Reuters reported—edging past OpenAI on that metric. “For OpenAI, the conventional read is that Anthropic just seized the narrative advantage by filing first,” PitchBook senior analyst Harrison Rolfes told Reuters. Reuters
OpenAI has made its corporate structure a selling point to investors. According to the company, the for-profit business, OpenAI Group PBC, operates as a public benefit corporation—so it’s required to weigh both profits and its larger mission. Control remains with the OpenAI Foundation. Stake breakdown: the foundation owns 26% of OpenAI Group, Microsoft comes in with about 27%, and the remainder sits with employees, former employees, and other investors, as OpenAI details.
Still, the hazards are obvious. Shaking up the product lineup doesn’t lock in an IPO timeline, and filing confidentially means OpenAI’s numbers won’t see daylight right away. Public buyers would eventually have to size up OpenAI’s appetite for cash, the way its revenues stack up, and if its business clients stick around as Anthropic and Google ramp up the pressure.
“Taking care of that legal overhang cleared a big hurdle for an IPO and probably pushed OpenAI to pick up the pace,” said IPOX Vice President Kat Liu, following Reuters’ report last month on OpenAI’s IPO plans. IPOX
Next up: a practical test. Should OpenAI shift Codex and its agent tools into the core of ChatGPT in the weeks ahead, investors would get a more straightforward narrative—the very app that brought AI to the masses is getting a rebuild, this time aimed squarely at turning work into revenue.
