OpenAI is preparing to go public as early as the fourth quarter of 2026, targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion. The company has expanded its finance team, hired a head of investor relations and started informal talks with Wall Street banks. No S-1 filing has been made with the SEC, but the internal timeline points toward a listing on the Nasdaq later this year.
What’s Going On?
The company’s most recent funding round, the largest in Silicon Valley history, raised $122 billion and valued OpenAI at $852 billion. SoftBank, Amazon and Nvidia led the round. Microsoft holds roughly 27% equity in OpenAI following a restructuring in October 2025 that converted the company from a capped-profit entity into a for-profit public benefit corporation. That restructuring cleared the legal path for a public listing.
OpenAI crossed $25 billion in annualized revenue by the end of February 2026, up from $21.4 billion at year-end 2025 and roughly $6 billion at the end of 2024. The company has told potential investors it expects $280 billion in annual revenue by 2030, driven by both enterprise and consumer products. Nearly half of its 2026 revenue is expected to come from enterprise customers. ChatGPT now has 900 million weekly active users, 50 million paying individual subscribers and 9 million paying business users.
Massive Growth, Massive Losses
The spending side tells a different story. OpenAI projects a $14 billion loss in 2026. Annual cash burn is expected to rise to $57 billion by 2027. The company does not expect to reach profitability until 2029 or 2030, with cumulative losses projected to exceed $200 billion through that period. CEO Sam Altman initially outlined $1.4 trillion in AI infrastructure commitments, but OpenAI has since scaled that back to $600 billion in total compute spending by 2030. Even at the reduced figure, the pressure to grow revenue fast enough to justify the spending will be intense once the company faces public market scrutiny.
Anthropic Looms As Rival IPO
OpenAI does not operate in isolation. Anthropic, its closest competitor, is also considering going public. A Bloomberg report said Anthropic is looking at an October 2026 listing and aims to raise $60 billion on top of the $30 billion it raised in a February round. Anthropic’s annualized revenue reportedly reached $19 billion, and 73% of first-time enterprise AI buyers are choosing Anthropic’s Claude over ChatGPT. Nvidia invested in both companies, a strategic move to fuel demand for its processors regardless of which company leads the AI race.
The rivalry carries a political dimension. The Pentagon dropped its use of Anthropic’s Claude after the company refused to meet certain government demands. OpenAI stepped in and secured a deal with the Pentagon days later. Some investors now view Anthropic as the more principled company, which adds a reputational angle to the IPO competition. If both companies list within weeks of each other, investors will weigh financial metrics, growth rates and ethical positioning side by side.
At a $1 trillion valuation on $25 billion in revenue, OpenAI would trade at roughly 40 times sales. That multiple is only sustainable if the market believes OpenAI is an enterprise software platform, not a research lab selling API access. The IPO will be the first time retail investors get direct exposure to the company behind ChatGPT.
It will also be the first time OpenAI’s financials face the scrutiny that comes with quarterly earnings reports, analyst calls and public accountability.
