OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the US stock market, the company announced in a blog post on Monday. The artificial intelligence giant is expected to be valued at more than $850bn, making it one of the most highly valued listings in market history.
The company submitted a confidential S-1 form to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a prospectus typically filed ahead of an IPO. OpenAI stated that it has not yet decided on timing, noting that it may take a while as certain goals are easier to achieve as a private company. The confidential filing allows regulators to review financial disclosures before they are made public.
OpenAI's IPO follows a meteoric rise since its founding as a non-profit research lab in 2015. The company released ChatGPT in 2022 and converted to a for-profit structure, rapidly gaining hundreds of millions of users. However, it has struggled to replicate that success, with ventures such as a video generation app Sora and a partnership with Disney failing to gain traction.
The IPO comes amid a banner year for AI company public offerings. Rival Anthropic also announced plans to go public last week, and Elon Musk's SpaceX, which owns xAI, is expected to list soon at a valuation of $1.75tn. OpenAI closed a funding round of $122bn in March, valuing it at about $852bn, despite difficulties turning a profit.
The filing follows OpenAI's legal victory in a lawsuit brought by Musk, who claimed the company illegally converted from non-profit to for-profit. A jury ruled in OpenAI's favour, but the company still faces multiple lawsuits alleging that ChatGPT has exacerbated mental health crises and incited violence. Despite these challenges, OpenAI has secured major partnerships with Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, and the Trump administration.
