US AI player OpenAI is reportedly preparing for an IPO that could value the company at as much as $1 trillion. This would make it the largest IPO ever, bigger than those of Saudi Aramco and Alibaba.
According to Reuters, OpenAI is exploring the possibility of filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the second half of 2026. The company is reportedly aiming for a capital round of at least $60 billion. Discussions are still at an early stage, and both the timing and the exact amounts are subject to change, depending on the company’s growth and market conditions.
According to those involved, CFO Sarah Friar has indicated that a stock market listing in 2027 is most likely, although some advisors do not rule out an earlier date, at the end of 2026. An OpenAI spokesperson told Reuters that an IPO is not the company’s current focus and that it is primarily focused on building a sustainable business that derives broad societal benefits from artificial general intelligence (AGI).
New corporate structure for OpenAI
The possible move to the stock market comes shortly after OpenAI reorganized its corporate structure. Techzine reported on this on Wednesday. The company started in 2015 as a non-profit organization and created a for-profit arm four years later. Now, the structure has been further modified: the non-profit is now called the OpenAI Foundation and holds a 26 percent stake in the new umbrella entity, OpenAI Group PBC, a so-called public benefit corporation.
According to SiliconANGLE, this reorganization is the result of more than a year of consultations with regulators in California and Delaware. OpenAI initially planned to completely separate the profitable branch from the non-profit, but adjusted those plans to obtain approval from the authorities. With the restructuring, the company now formally has the option to go public.
The timing seems favorable. The global AI market is growing rapidly, and other players such as CoreWeave and Nvidia are also achieving record valuations. An IPO would not only give OpenAI access to more capital, but also the opportunity to make larger acquisitions with publicly traded shares.
OpenAI is expected to achieve annual revenues of around $20 billion by the end of this year, although losses are also increasing. The valuation of the company, which has now raised more than $57 billion in investments, would reach $1 trillion in the event of a successful IPO. This would make OpenAI the largest IPO ever.