OpenAI could go public as early as September? Altman: The timing of the IPO is still uncertain

OpenAI could go public as early as September? Altman: The timing of the IPO is still uncertain

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OpenAI is accelerating its IPO process, but CEO Sam Altman has made it clear that there is still a gap between submitting the prospectus and officially going public, with the final timing dependent on market conditions being ripe.

On May 21, according to technology media The Information and others, OpenAI may submit its draft IPO prospectus as early as this Friday. If progress goes smoothly, it could go public as soon as September this year, earlier than the previous market expectation of the fourth quarter or later.

However, Altman told employees at an all-hands meeting on Wednesday that submitting an IPO application and truly being ready to go public are two different things; the company will not rush into the public market when conditions are not mature. The report, citing insiders, reveals some of OpenAI's major investors were surprised by how quickly the company is moving to submit documents.

According to a previous article by WallstreetCN, OpenAI aims for a valuation exceeding $1 trillion, and this IPO could become the largest public offering in the AI industry to date. The company has already begun partnering with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the law firm Cooley.

Racing Ahead of Anthropic, Competing for First-Mover Advantage in Public Markets

One of the core reasons propelling OpenAI to speed up listing is the time window competition with its rival Anthropic. Anthropic is also preparing to go public as early as October this year, while Altman has privately expressed the desire for OpenAI to go public first.

According to the WallstreetCN article, OpenAI’s filing at this time partially aims to send a clear signal to public market investors, hoping they reserve funds and not put all their “firepower” into Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s upcoming IPO.

SpaceX is expected to go public next month, seeking to raise about $75 billion at a $1.75 trillion valuation, likely becoming the largest IPO in history. Insiders say there is “a lot of game-playing” between the two companies, and OpenAI hopes to lock in market funds as soon as possible.

The Information reports that Altman also mentioned at the all-hands meeting that the upcoming major SpaceX IPO and global economic trends are key external variables affecting the IPO timing for both OpenAI and Anthropic.

Accelerating Compute Expansion, Altman Confident About Performance in Coming Months

According to reports from the all-hands meeting, Altman disclosed the latest progress in the company’s compute capacity construction. Insiders revealed that OpenAI recently brought more than 2 GW of compute power online, exceeding the total capacity of SpaceX’s Colossus cluster.

Altman also said that he believes Anthropic is currently constrained by its own compute bottleneck, while OpenAI is actively preparing for strong performance in the coming months. In contrast, Anthropic has recently signed multiple compute purchase agreements, including a contract to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion monthly to rent Colossus data center capacity.

Funds raised from the IPO will directly support both companies’ ever-rising compute costs. According to the WallstreetCN article, OpenAI has raised nearly $200 billion cumulatively, an unprecedented scale, and seeks to leverage public markets for further capital to maintain its competitive edge in AI.

Besides Altman, WallstreetCN’s article mentions that OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar holds a more cautious stance regarding the pace of listing.

Analysts point out that Altman’s own remarks at the all-hands also confirm the company’s internal attitude of differentiating between "filing documents" and "officially going public". The ultimate window will depend on a dual validation of market environment and the company’s own readiness.

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