Artificial intelligence (AI) giant OpenAI is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the company as much as $1 trillion, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The IPO could come as early as the second half of 2026, the report said, citing three people familiar with the matter.
OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has told some associates that the company is aiming for an IPO in 2027, but some advisers predict it could happen sooner, the sources said.
Tapping the public markets to invest would help OpenAI reduce its reliance on Microsoft (MSFT), which has a 27% stake in the company following a recent recapitalization.
OpenAI’s products such as conversational assistant ChatGPT saw artificial intelligence tools explode into mainstream use a few years ago. Other major tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, and X (formerly Twitter) have all subsequently deployed AI assistants.
As such, AI has become a proxy for the general technology sector, which often correlates with the cryptocurrency market as both are considered risky investments.
OpenAI may have generated a loss of $11.5 billion in the most recent quarter, The Register reported Wednesday, citing Microsoft’s quarterly results.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.
Earlier this month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he thinks “there are a lot of parts of AI that… are pretty bubbly right now” during the company’s DevDay, the BBC reported, adding that Altman was trying to distinguish his company from its competitors.
