OpenAI Confidentially Files for IPO on the Heels of SpaceX and Anthropic

Jun 8, 2026 5:31 PM

The ChatGPT maker announced it has filed paperwork to go public, just a week after rival Anthropic took the same step.

Photograph: Daniel Heuer/Getty Images

OpenAI has filed confidential paperwork for an initial public offering, the company announced on Monday, kicking off what could be a months-long process toward debuting on a US stock exchange. The move makes it the third company to file for what could be a trillion-dollar IPO this year.

Tech companies pursuing the most powerful AI models, including publicly traded giants Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, are hungry for tens of billions dollars each to build out more data centers and recruit scientists to grow their services.

An IPO would be yet another fundraising opportunity for OpenAI after the company privately raised $122 billion in March. Going public, which brings many workers closer to a life-altering payday and increases transparency about a business’ financial health, could also boost employee morale and customer confidence as OpenAI tries to regain its position as the clear frontrunner in frontier AI.

OpenAI did not specify timing for the IPO nor how much it plans to raise. “We recently submitted a confidential S-1,” the company said in an unsigned, one-paragraph blog post. “We expect it to leak so we’re just announcing it. 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. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Paresh Dave is a senior writer for WIRED, covering the inner workings of Big Tech companies. He writes about how apps and gadgets are built and about their impacts while giving voice to the stories of the underappreciated and disadvantaged. He was previously a reporter for Reuters and the Los Angeles Times, ... Read More

Maxwell Zeff is a senior writer at WIRED covering the business of artificial intelligence. He was previously a senior reporter with TechCrunch, where he broke news on startups and leaders driving the AI boom. Before that, Zeff covered AI policy and content moderation for Gizmodo and wrote some of Bloomberg’s ... Read More

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