OpenAI has filed confidential paperwork with U.S. regulators, a step toward a possible IPO as major AI-linked companies seek access to public markets.
OpenAI has confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a formal step that could allow the ChatGPT maker to become a publicly traded company.
The San Francisco-based company said Monday that it has not settled on a timeline and may remain private for some time. “We have not decided on timing yet; 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. “But it's a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”
The filing places OpenAI alongside other prominent technology companies testing a path to public markets. Rival Anthropic disclosed on June 1 that it is also moving toward an initial public offering, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX has begun an IPO roadshow pitching itself as an AI-focused space company.
OpenAI, founded in 2015 as a nonprofit focused on developing artificial intelligence for the common good, is now valued at $852 billion US. Chief executive Sam Altman publicly raised the prospect of an IPO last fall, calling it the company’s “most likely path” given its size and the large amounts of capital needed to continue developing its technology.
The company has not publicly disclosed how much revenue it generates or when it expects to become profitable. Like Anthropic and SpaceX, OpenAI has been spending more than it makes because of the high cost of building and running advanced technology systems.
Emarketer analyst Nate Elliott said the move comes at a “precarious moment” for OpenAI as it faces pressure from Google and Anthropic in both consumer and business AI products. “OpenAI doesn't have a lot of other places to look for the enormous capital required to support its costs,” Elliott said.
OpenAI’s path toward a possible listing follows its decision last year to reorganize as a public benefit corporation while remaining under the control of a nonprofit. It also cleared a legal obstacle last month after a federal jury rejected Elon Musk’s challenge to the company’s restructuring and leadership.
In a separate statement Monday, Altman described a broader vision for OpenAI that includes building an automated AI researcher, accelerating economic growth and giving “everyone on Earth a personal AGI,” shorthand for artificial general intelligence. For investors and regulators, the next question is whether OpenAI turns its confidential filing into a public offering — and how soon.
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