May 25, 2026 (PRISM News via COMTEX) --
OpenAI is reportedly preparing to confidentially file for a U.S. initial public offering in the coming weeks, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that a filing could come as soon as Friday. Reuters reported that the ChatGPT maker is aiming for a public listing as early as September and is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on a draft IPO prospectus. (Barron’s)
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI could confidentially file for an IPO soon, with some reports pointing to a possible filing as early as Friday.
- The company is reportedly targeting a public debut as early as September 2026.
- Reuters said OpenAI was most recently valued at $852 billion.
- The company is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on IPO documents.
- A public offering could become one of the largest technology IPOs ever, especially if OpenAI seeks a valuation near or above $1 trillion.
- The IPO push comes shortly after OpenAI defeated Elon Musk's lawsuit, removing a major legal overhang.
- The central investor question: can OpenAI justify a massive valuation while funding the enormous compute costs required to stay ahead in AI?
The reported filing would mark a major turning point for the AI market. OpenAI has been one of the most important private companies in the world since the launch of ChatGPT, but an IPO would bring the company into public markets and give investors a more direct way to participate in the generative AI software and infrastructure boom.
Reuters reported that OpenAI is preparing to file confidentially "in the coming weeks," while the company is aiming to go public as early as September. The report also said OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion and raised $122 billion earlier this year, potentially making that funding round the largest in Silicon Valley history.
The scale of the IPO could be enormous. Reuters previously reported that OpenAI had been laying the groundwork for a potential offering that could value the company at up to $1 trillion, with early discussions including a potential raise of at least $60 billion. Those numbers remain subject to change, but they show why the offering would instantly become one of the defining market events of the AI era.
The timing is not accidental. OpenAI recently won a major court battle against Elon Musk, with a U.S. jury ruling against Musk and finding that he brought his claims too late. Reuters described the verdict as simplifying the path toward a possible IPO, while noting that Musk plans to appeal.
An IPO would also help OpenAI fund a massive infrastructure race. Reuters previously reported that OpenAI's IPO preparations followed a restructuring that reduced its reliance on Microsoft and could allow the company to raise capital more efficiently, make larger acquisitions using public stock, and support CEO Sam Altman's plans to invest heavily in AI infrastructure.
That capital need is the heart of the story. OpenAI is not a typical software company with minimal marginal costs. Frontier AI requires massive spending on data centers, chips, power, networking, research talent, and model deployment. Public markets could give OpenAI a larger capital base, but they would also force the company to disclose more about revenue, losses, margins, compute commitments, customer concentration, and governance.
The competitive backdrop is also getting more intense. Reuters reported that OpenAI has revised its product roadmap twice in recent months amid competition from Google and Anthropic, with some industry watchers expecting Anthropic's revenue growth to surpass OpenAI's in the months ahead.
For public market investors, an OpenAI IPO would have ripple effects across the AI trade. Microsoft remains one of OpenAI's largest backers, while Nvidia, data-center operators, cloud providers, power infrastructure companies, and AI software names could all be affected by how investors value OpenAI's growth, margins, and infrastructure needs. Reuters previously reported that Microsoft owned about 27% of OpenAI after investing $13 billion, following OpenAI's restructuring.
The offering could also compete for capital with other expected mega-IPOs. Reuters noted that OpenAI's plans come as investors are also watching a potential SpaceX filing, and the Financial Times reported that OpenAI is aiming to signal to investors that they should reserve capital for its offering.
The post OpenAI IPO Filing Could Come Soon as AI Capital Race Moves Toward Public Markets appeared first on PRISM MarketView.
COMTEX_481809253/2927/2026-05-25T17:56:39
