OpenAI eyes $1 trillion valuation in IPO talks
The ChatGPT maker’s internal discussions point to one of the biggest stock market debuts in history.
OpenAI is quietly preparing for an initial public offering that could value the ChatGPT developer at up to $1 trillion, according to Reuters, a potential milestone that would make it one of the most valuable listings in history.
The company has begun early-stage discussions about filing with U.S. securities regulators as soon as the second half of 2026, Reuters said. OpenAI has examined raising at least $60 billion, though advisers expect that number could rise significantly given its growth trajectory and investor appetite.
While no final decision has been made, and both timing and valuation could shift, the deliberations underscore a new sense of urgency inside OpenAI to access public markets following a sweeping corporate restructuring that reduced its reliance on Microsoft.
Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has told some associates that a 2027 listing is the current target, though other advisers believe it could come earlier. "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."
If achieved, a trillion-dollar valuation would place OpenAI in the company of Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Alphabet, a staggering ascent for an organization founded just a decade ago as a nonprofit research lab.
CEO Sam Altman, who has long resisted the idea of going public, signaled a shift this week during a livestream, saying: “I think it’s fair to say it is the most likely path for us, given the capital needs that we’ll have.”
OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate is projected to reach $20 billion by year-end, but losses are mounting as the company scales infrastructure to support ChatGPT and its enterprise offerings. An IPO would give Altman access to public equity markets, and with it, a more flexible way to fund his plan to pour trillions of dollars into AI computing infrastructure over the next decade.
The proceeds could also enable larger acquisitions and help the company broaden its strategic independence from Microsoft, which remains both a partner and a major shareholder.
OpenAI’s internal preparations come just days after it completed a complex reorganization creating OpenAI Group PBC, a public benefit corporation controlled by a new OpenAI Foundation. The foundation now holds a 26% stake in the company and a warrant for additional shares if certain milestones are met, making it a rare nonprofit with a direct financial interest in one of the world’s most valuable private firms.
The new structure preserves mission-based oversight while providing a clearer route to public markets. It also marks a partial rebalancing of power: Microsoft’s ownership has fallen to about 27%, down from 32.5%, though its investment, now worth roughly $135 billion, remains pivotal to OpenAI’s operations.
A successful IPO would deliver substantial returns to SoftBank, Thrive Capital, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and other major backers who have fueled OpenAI’s rise from experimental lab to commercial juggernaut.
OpenAI’s timing comes amid a spectacular rally in AI-related stocks. Nvidia on Wednesday became the first company to hit a $5 trillion market capitalization, while CoreWeave, another AI cloud firm, has tripled in value since its own listing earlier this year.
That momentum could set the stage for one of the largest and most closely watched IPOs of the decade, and one that would test investors’ willingness to place trillion-dollar bets on the future of artificial intelligence.
