OpenAI Files Confidentially for IPO, Signaling New Phase for AI Investing

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has taken a significant step toward going public by filing a confidential IPO with U.S. regulators. The move follows rival Anthropic’s similar filing and underscores Wall Street’s growing hunger for pure-play AI investments.

The company did not disclose the size or pricing terms of the offering, and cautioned that a timeline remains uncertain. “It may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” OpenAI said in a statement.

Reuters previously reported that OpenAI is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion, with a potential debut as soon as September. If achieved, that would make OpenAI the third trillion-dollar company to go public in rapid succession—a high-stakes test of investor appetite for AI-driven growth stocks. Elon Musk’s SpaceX filed first, pursuing a $75 billion offering at a $1.75 trillion valuation.

OpenAI’s IPO comes after a year of explosive growth. The company reported $2 billion in monthly revenue as of March, roughly quadrupling its pace from late 2024. It also disclosed that ChatGPT now has over 900 million weekly active users and more than 50 million paid subscribers.

The filing follows a restructuring of OpenAI’s corporate governance. In December, it announced plans to convert to a public benefit corporation, a move designed to attract more capital while loosening constraints imposed by its nonprofit parent. That overhaul drew a lawsuit from early backer Elon Musk, who accused CEO Sam Altman of straying from the company’s original mission. A jury ruled against Musk in May, removing a key legal cloud for the IPO.

OpenAI also renegotiated its partnership with Microsoft, its earliest major investor, freeing it to strike new deals with Amazon and Google. Microsoft’s $13 billion investment since 2019 helped fuel OpenAI’s rise and boosted Azure’s cloud business.

For business leaders, the IPO signals that AI infrastructure and deployment tools are entering a new maturity phase—one where private innovation meets public market scrutiny.