OpenAI is preparing to file IPO paperwork with U.S. regulators as soon as this week, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley managing the process. The company is targeting a public debut as early as September 2026. A confidential filing, the type OpenAI is pursuing, lets a company submit draft documents to regulators for private review before making anything public.
The timing is not accidental. A U.S. jury dismissed Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI on May 18, just two days before the IPO preparations became public knowledge. Musk had sued for $150 billion, alleging that Sam Altman had steered OpenAI away from its original non-profit purpose. The jury found the claims were filed too late under California law, and the judge immediately adopted the verdict. That clears what had been the biggest legal cloud over the listing.
The valuation being discussed is extraordinary. OpenAI closed a private funding round in March 2026 at roughly $852 billion. Analysts and some insiders expect the IPO target to exceed $1 trillion. For reference, that would be larger than the market value of most national stock markets outside the U.S.
But the finances are genuinely unusual. In 2025, OpenAI generated $13.1 billion in revenue and spent roughly $22 billion to do so, producing about a $9 billion net loss. The company's own internal projections show operating losses continuing to grow, peaking around 2028, before an expected turn toward profitability in 2029 or 2030. Deutsche Bank has estimated total cumulative losses before profitability could reach $143 billion. No technology startup in history has operated with losses anywhere near that scale.
This is the core tension the IPO will expose. Until now, OpenAI has raised money from private investors who were willing to accept management's projections without full financial disclosure. Going public means filing audited accounts, disclosing every major contract, and explaining every large cost. One of those costs is significant: under a deal renegotiated with Microsoft in 2026, OpenAI is committed to paying Microsoft a share of its revenue through 2032, capped at $38 billion total.
The corporate structure adds another layer for potential investors to work through. OpenAI completed a restructuring in October 2025, converting its for-profit business into what is called a Public Benefit Corporation. The original nonprofit is now called the OpenAI Foundation, and it retains a 26% stake worth roughly $130 billion, as well as control over board appointments. Microsoft holds about 27%. That means anyone buying shares in the IPO is buying economic exposure to the company's growth, but not meaningful control over its direction.
For business operators who already use ChatGPT or related tools, the IPO does not change the product. But it does change the company's accountability. Public companies answer to shareholders every quarter. Pricing pressure, product decisions, and enterprise contract terms all get harder to move once Wall Street is watching the margin numbers in real time.
The competitive timing is also worth noting. SpaceX, which now includes Elon Musk's AI operation, is targeting its own IPO as early as June. Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI assistant, is in late-stage talks to raise money at a $900 billion valuation, with its own listing expected in late 2026. All three companies are heading toward public markets at the same time, which means investors will soon have actual financial disclosures to compare, rather than competing press releases.