ChatGPT maker OpenAI has filed confidentially for an initial public offering, the company announced Monday in a blog post submitted to the public.
The Sam Altman-led firm submitted its IPO paperwork directly to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, making it one of the most anticipated filings in recent memory.
“We expect it to leak so we’re just announcing it,” OpenAI said in a statement accompanying the news Monday.
The company added: “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 further noted the complexity of the decision, saying: “But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”
Because the filing is confidential, the public will not be able to view details of OpenAI’s financials or its road to profitability until the SEC makes those documents available.
Companies typically prefer confidential filings because the approach allows them to seek regulatory approval before exposing financial information to broader public scrutiny.
OpenAI is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley on a potential listing that could arrive as soon as this fall.
The filing carries a significant catch, however, as OpenAI’s own projections suggest the company will not generate more cash than it spends for at least four more years.
Investor forecasts indicate the pace of OpenAI’s cash consumption would be unprecedented among publicly traded companies if it proceeds with a listing on that timeline.
The company has also missed some internal revenue targets recently, while rival Anthropic has pulled ahead among business customers, adding further pressure to the IPO calculus.
OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round in March at an $852 billion valuation and plans to spend heavily on semiconductors and data centers through 2030.
The filing arrives just over a week after Anthropic also submitted its own confidential IPO prospectus, intensifying the race between the two leading artificial intelligence firms.
Anthropic filed at a valuation of $965 billion, meaning its disclosure will establish a valuation comparison that could constrain how OpenAI prices its own offering, according to a recent PitchBook report.
That same PitchBook report characterized OpenAI as overvalued relative to its fundamentals, a finding that could weigh on investor sentiment as the listing process advances.
Investment bankers have advised both OpenAI and Anthropic that an early mover advantage is at stake, with the first to list setting the terms for how investors categorize the broader AI sector.
SpaceX is also expected to make its public market debut at a $1.75 trillion valuation, meaning three of the most closely watched companies in tech could list within months of each other.
That concentration of high-stakes offerings would represent a level of market activity not seen since the dot-com boom, according to observers tracking the wave of anticipated listings.
