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OpenAI said Monday that it has filed a confidential S-1 to offer its stock on public markets, a move that comes a week after rival Anthropic made a similar filing. The ChatGPT maker posted on X that it has not set a timing for an IPO and warned it could be some time, saying there are things the company can do more easily as a private firm.
The artificial intelligence startup added that “it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”
In March, OpenAI’s valuation soared to $852 billion after it raised a fresh $122 billion in cash to fuel its ever-expanding ambitions in AI. That cash is being used to develop advanced AI models, but also the extensive physical data center infrastructure and cloud computing capacity required to run those systems.
On June 1, Anthropic also filed for a public stock offering. That startup was worth $952 billion in its most recent funding round.
Regardless of when OpenAI and Anthropic decide to begin trading this year, they will be the second and third mega IPOs to follow SpaceX’s trillion-dollar offering, which is set for Friday. Elon Musk’s rocket company is also heavily involved in artificial intelligence, through its xAI business.
OpenAI became a household name because of ChatGPT. Launched in late 2022, the app that connects users to the company’s AI models for free has gained hundreds of millions of downloads since.
However, OpenAI in recent years has come under fire. Just last month, the company emerged from a contentious legal battle with Musk, who sued it as it tried to convert out of being a nonprofit.
OpenAI has also faced numerous claims that ChatGPT is to blame for harm to some of its youngest users. The company has denied that, saying in response to one recent lawsuit that it was not to blame.
