SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, 2026, 11:35 PDT
OpenAI is gearing up to confidentially submit paperwork for a U.S. IPO within weeks, according to someone with knowledge of the plans who spoke to Reuters. The ChatGPT developer’s Wall Street debut could hit as soon as September. OpenAI has tapped Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to help draft its prospectus, Reuters said.
Timing is critical here: OpenAI wants to secure funding while the appetite for artificial intelligence investments is still strong—and before competitors pull from that same batch of big growth-capital backers. The company’s most recent valuation came in at $852 billion, which would make even a partial listing one of the largest market launches ever seen.
The legal cloud hanging over OpenAI just got lighter. On May 18, a U.S. jury in Oakland found that Elon Musk had waited too long to bring his lawsuit accusing OpenAI of straying from its nonprofit roots—a decision Reuters reported could clear the way for an IPO. “A huge win for Altman and OpenAI despite the scrapes and bruises on Altman’s persona and leadership,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. Reuters
OpenAI’s books wouldn’t go public right away with a confidential filing. SEC rules allow companies to submit draft IPO registration statements privately. Still, the registration statement—plus any previous drafts—has to hit the public record at least 15 days before the IPO roadshow, which is the marketing push for investors.
This would be a significant pivot from OpenAI’s previous restraint. Back in October, Reuters noted that CEO Sam Altman called an IPO “the most likely path for us, given the capital needs that we’ll have.” Even then, though, an OpenAI spokesperson downplayed the prospect, insisting the company wasn’t focused on an IPO and hadn’t chosen a date. Reuters
OpenAI has been candid about chasing capital. Back in February, it announced plans to raise $110 billion at a lofty $840 billion valuation. SoftBank, Nvidia, and Amazon are all in, and new computing deals are also on the table to keep up with the heavy data-center needs driving its models.
The company’s setup remains atypical for a firm eyeing public markets. OpenAI refers to its nonprofit side as the OpenAI Foundation, while its profit-generating arm goes by OpenAI Group PBC, a public benefit corporation that must balance commercial ambitions with its stated mission and a wider set of stakeholders.
Microsoft still sits at the heart of it all. The tech giant owns 27% of OpenAI and remains locked in on cloud and product rights, Reuters noted. Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments, pointed out that even with the fresh setup, OpenAI is not off the hook—questions about transparency, data handling, and safety governance persist.
Filing plans are deeply entangled with the competitive landscape right now. SpaceX—Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite outfit—has dropped IPO documents suggesting it could top a $1 trillion valuation. The filing also revealed big AI bets and losses tied to its recent acquisition of xAI.
Investors now face a choice between two sharply contrasting AI stories. OpenAI touts its broad footprint in both consumer and enterprise software, while SpaceX brings together satellites, rockets, and its xAI unit. But Grok, the xAI chatbot, isn’t making much headway with U.S. government clients and trails behind OpenAI and other competitors that analysts view as stronger players, according to Reuters.
Anthropic remains a key concern here. HSBC analysts, quoted by Reuters Breakingviews, see OpenAI’s revenue possibly jumping to $64 billion next year, up from $34 billion this year. Yet OpenAI is still in the red, and the pace at Anthropic—run by ex-OpenAI scientist Dario Amodei, and known for the Claude AI model—continues to pick up.
The IPO road still has its bumps. Shifting markets, the SEC’s scrutiny, model expenses, lawsuits, and investors questioning AI margins—all of these could drag out the schedule, and today’s buzz might not last until OpenAI must show its books. Kat Liu, vice president at IPOX, pointed out that settling the Musk dispute probably pushed OpenAI to move faster, but she also noted that if filings overlap, portfolio managers will have to weigh OpenAI directly against SpaceX.
Regulators are unlikely to let the deal fly under the radar. Speaking at a Vatican conference this day, Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah flagged that cutting-edge AI labs sometimes juggle “incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing.” He also cautioned that AI’s impact on jobs could be massive: “very large scale” displacement of human labor is on the table. Reuters
