OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, is understood to be eyeballing a share market listing and, with a value north of US$1 trillion (A$1.53 trillion), would be one of the biggest initial public offerings (IPOs) of all time.
With a complex restructuring that reduces its reliance on Microsoft now behind it, OpenAI is understood to be looking to tap public markets in an attempt to raise at least US$60 billion, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
While iterations from chief financial officer Sarah Friar suggest the company is aiming for a 2027 listing, there’s growing speculation that the company will file with securities regulators as soon as the second half of 2026.
"An IPO is not our focus, so we could not possibly have set a date," an OpenAI spokesperson said.
"We are building a durable business and advancing our mission so everyone benefits from AGI."
During a staff livestream earlier this week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told the market that an IPO is the most likely path for the company given the capital it requires to make larger acquisitions using public stock.
Altman is expected to splurge trillions of dollars on building data centres and other forms of AI infrastructure necessary for the rapid buildout of its chatbots.
While OpenAI was initially founded as a nonprofit in 2015 to safely build AGI for humanity’s benefit, following a lengthy restructuring process, it has morphed its main business into a for-profit corporation.
While the company is still technically under the control of a non-profit entity, recent restructuring makes it easier for OpenAI to raise capital while also preparing for an IPO.
Under the restructuring deal, the nonprofit entity, now called the OpenAI Foundation, has a 26% stake in OpenAI Group and a warrant to receive additional shares if the company hits certain milestones.
Meanwhile, Microsoft ended up with a 27% stake in the new for-profit entity, with OpenAI valued at US$500 billion under the terms of the deal.
News of the restructuring has helped push Microsoft’s valuation above US$4 trillion for the first time.
OpenAI reportedly posted revenue of US$4.3 billion in the first half of this year, with an operating loss of US$7.8 billion.
Talk of OpenAI’s share market listing and IPO follows on the heels of a surge in public markets, with AI cloud company CoreWeave going public earlier this year at a US$23 billion valuation and has since tripled its value.
On Wednesday, Nvidia became the first company to reach a US$5 trillion market value, powered by a rally that has cemented its role at the centre of the global AI boom.
However, the massive valuations have only exacerbated fears that the AI industry is operating in a bubble.
Officials at the Bank of England this month flagged the growing risk that tech stock prices pumped up by the AI boom could pop, noting equity markets were “particularly exposed should expectations around the impact of AI become less optimistic”.
