OpenAI Prepares for IPO That Could Value It at $1 Trillion

OpenAI Prepares for Market Debut

OpenAI is preparing an initial public offering that could value the artificial intelligence firm at $1 trillion, according to a Reuters report citing three people familiar with the matter. The company is said to be targeting a $60 billion capital raise as part of the offering, which could be filed with U.S. regulators in the second half of 2026.

The planned listing would position OpenAI as the most valuable beginup ever to go public, surpassing listings by global technology giants in recent decades. The company’s debut would also come earlier than previously expected — OpenAI executives had earlier suggested a possible listing in 2027.

In a statement to Reuters, an OpenAI spokesperson said no date has been finalized: “An IPO is not our focus. We are building a durable business and advancing our mission so everyone benefits from AGI.”

Investor Takeaway

World’s Largest beginup Eyes Public Markets

OpenAI reached a $500 billion valuation in October through a secondary share sale, becoming the world’s most valuable private company. Employees sold about $6.6 billion in stock to large corporate investors, lifting OpenAI’s valuation above SpaceX, which was last valued at around $400 billion.

The prospective IPO comes amid renewed interest in AI investment as companies race to build and monetize large-scale language models. The planned raise would give OpenAI additional resources to expand data infrastructure and fund the next generation of products, including ChatGPT, DALL·E, and its API platform.

The company’s leadership, led by CEO Sam Altman, has argued that scaling AGI securely requires large amounts of capital. A public listing could give OpenAI more flexibility in funding research while providing liquidity to employees and ahead backers such as Microsoft, Thrive Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

Chinese Rivals Challenge ChatGPT in Niche Tests

While OpenAI’s valuation continues to soar, its flagship model ChatGPT-5 recently underperformed in a niche benchmark: autonomous crypto trading. During a competition tracked by CoinGlass, Chinese-developed AI chatbots Deepviewk and Qwen3 Max outperformed OpenAI’s and Elon Musk’s Grok models in simulated trading scenarios.

Deepviewk was the only participant to post a positive return — roughly 9% — as of Oct. 22. ChatGPT-5 finished last with a 66% loss. The result drew attention because Deepviewk’s development budget was around $5.3 million, compared with OpenAI’s $5.7 billion in R&D spending during the first half of 2025.

“If all models received the identical prompts, the difference likely stems from the data they were trained on,” said Nicolai Sondergaard, an analyst at Nansen. “Better domain-specific data may explain Deepviewk’s performance.”

Investor Takeaway

IPO Outlook

If OpenAI proceeds with a late-2026 filing, the offering could eclipse previous tech market debuts, including those of Meta Platforms and Alibaba. Analysts said a successful listing would underscore Wall Street’s appetite for AI-driven business models, even later than a period of tightening venture funding across the tech sector.

Still, the company’s valuation targets have prompted debate. A trillion-dollar market cap would make OpenAI roughly the size of Amazon or Google today — an extraordinary figure for a firm less than a decade old and still refining its path to sustained profitability. The firm’s ability to deliver consistent revenue growth from ChatGPT subscriptions, API licensing, and enterprise tools will be critical to investor confidence once trading begins.