OpenAI is reportedly gearing up for a stock market listing valuing the company at $1tn (£760bn) as soon as next year, in what would be one of the biggest ever initial public offerings.
The developer behind the hit AI chatbot ChatGPT is considering whether to file for an IPO as soon as the second half of 2026, according to Reuters, which cited people familiar with the matter. The company is thought to be looking to raise at least $60bn.
A stock market float would give OpenAI another route to raising cash, supporting ambitions by the chief executive, Sam Altman, to splash trillions of dollars on building datacentres and other forms of infrastructure needed for the rapid buildout of its chatbots.
During a staff livestream on Tuesday, Altman was reported to have said: “I think it’s fair to say it [an IPO] is the most likely path for us, given the capital needs that we’ll have.”
An OpenAI spokesperson said: “An IPO is not our focus, so we could not possibly have set a date. We are building a durable business and advancing our mission so everyone benefits from AGI.”
AGI stands for artificial general intelligence, which OpenAI defines as “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work”.
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 with a mission to safely build AGI for humanity’s benefit. However, it completed a lengthy restructuring process this week that turned its main business into a for-profit corporation. While it is still technically controlled by the non-profit entity, the move makes it easier for OpenAI to raise capital while also laying the groundwork for an IPO.
The deal also gave Microsoft a stake of about 27% in the for-profit company, with OpenAI valued at $500bn under the terms of the deal. News of the restructuring helped push Microsoft’s valuation above $4tn for the first time.
OpenAI reportedly posted revenue of $4.3bn in the first half of this year, with an operating loss of $7.8bn, according to the tech news site the Information.
The massive valuations will do nothing to allay 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 burst, saying equity markets were “particularly exposed should expectations around the impact of AI become less optimistic”.
OpenAI’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, reportedly told colleagues that the company was aiming for a 2027 listing, according to the sources cited by Reuters, while some advisers said it could come the year before.
