ChatGPT maker OpenAI confidentially files for IPO, a week after Anthropic

OpenAI filed confidentially for an IPO, as the ChatGPT maker looks to join artificial intelligence rivals tapping public markets to fund ambitious growth plans.

The Sam Altman-led firm submitted paperwork for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said. OpenAI is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley on a potential listing as soon as in the fall, people familiar with the matter have said.

Deliberations are ongoing and details of the IPO plan could change. “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,” the company said. “But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”

Founded more than a decade ago, OpenAI kicked off the generative AI boom with the release of ChatGPT in late 2022. Though the company and its flagship chatbot remain synonymous with AI for many people, OpenAI also faces a number of challenges, including heightened competition from Anthropic PBC and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

OpenAI reportedly missed certain internal revenue and user growth targets. Several key executives have departed or stepped back from their roles. And the company has been working to streamline its sprawling product lineup.

A public debut in 2026 would also pit Altman squarely against Elon Musk on a different plane than the failed lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO. SpaceX, Musk’s rocket, satellite and AI firm, is targeting an IPO raising more than $75 billion at a more than $2 trillion valuation as soon as June, Bloomberg News has reported.

OpenAI has already dwarfed even SpaceX’s IPO in a single funding round. The company completed a deal to raise $122 billion from investors at an $852 billion valuation.

AI companies are racing to raise tens of billions of dollars to buy chips and data centers and build more advanced AI systems. In February, OpenAI told investors it was planning to spend about $600 billion on AI infrastructure by 2030.