MarketsMay 20, 2026
OpenAI Reportedly Prepares Confidential IPO Filing for Potential September Debut
Market Prep
Rhea Lobo
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OpenAI is preparing to file for an initial public offering confidentially, possibly as early as this week, per The Wall Street Journal.
Bankers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been working with the company on a draft prospectus for submission to regulators.
The goal is a public market debut as early as September, though the timeline remains fluid and could still change.
OpenAI was most recently valued at $852B in a funding round, making it one of the largest private companies ever to approach public markets.
The filing push follows a legal victory this week against co-founder and early backer Elon Musk.
Musk alleged in a federal trial that OpenAI had effectively stolen a nonprofit charity by converting to a for-profit structure.
A jury sided with OpenAI on technical grounds and the judge dismissed Musk's claims, though Musk has said he plans to appeal.
The company has missed multiple internal revenue and user targets recently, facing pressure from both Google and Anthropic.
Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI assistant, has grown faster than OpenAI in recent months, driven by rapid adoption of its software tools across enterprise workforces.
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar has told company leaders the firm may need more time before going public, per the Journal.
CEO Sam Altman has been eager to proceed with the listing despite those internal concerns.
Investors have also raised questions about whether OpenAI can generate enough revenue to support its large data-center spending commitments.
OpenAI has renegotiated its partnership with Microsoft and restructured its corporate form specifically to enable an IPO.
If OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX all list in 2026, the year could rank as the largest ever for IPOs in total money raised.
Musk's rocket company SpaceX is expected to file IPO paperwork separately, with a potential June offering in view.
Anthropic is also exploring what would be a significant public debut of its own.
The three companies share overlapping founding histories — Altman, Musk, and Dario Amodei, now Anthropic's CEO, were all involved in OpenAI's early development more than a decade ago.
Their rivalries have become increasingly public as each company moves closer to a listing.
OpenAI's IPO would mark a turning point for a company that launched as a nonprofit research lab and has since grown into one of the most closely watched businesses in technology.
Whether the September target holds will depend heavily on how investors weigh its growth trajectory against the financial pressures already visible before it reaches public markets.
