- OpenAI seems to have been left behind as the IPO race heats up.
- The company has faced difficulty in monetising ChatGPT.
- Limited investor capital can harm OpenAI’s prospects if it delays its IPO.
SpaceX is set to debut its initial public offering (IPO) this month. Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has also filed confidential papers for a public issue with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). OpenAI, which was in discussions to debut on the market this year, seems to have been left far behind.
A year ago, things were different. OpenAI chief Sam Altman was claiming that his firm would fundamentally remake society, The Guardian reported. Now, Altman is walking back his previous ideas after he failed to earn money from ads and erotic chatbots.
In 2025, Altman was blogging about creating “science fiction” tools to “massively accelerate scientific discovery,” and increase abundance by leaps and bounds. His company followed up those announcements with vast projects like Stargate, a $500 billion investment into US AI infrastructure.
But in 2026, it turns out that OpenAI needs more money. Not just that; reports of dispute between Altman and OpenAI's chief financial officer, Sarah Friar over the company's timeline to go public have emerged. Friar has reportedly expressed doubts that the ChatGPT developer is ready to go public this year, and doubts about whether it can cover its computing costs.
But there may not be a better time to go public. OpenAI has failed to execute several strategies to monetise ChatGPT, including advertisements. It also walked back on its idea of erotic chatbots after pitching the prospect in late 2025.
OpenAI recorded $5.7 billion revenue in the first quarter of this year, as per the Information. But adjusted negative margins of -122% means that the ChatGPT developer lost $1.22 for every dollar it spent. The numbers highlight a fundamental truth of the AI boom: The computing power which makes ChatGPT possible is costly, and is not getting any less expensive with scale.
There could be consequences if OpenAI does not file for a public issue soon. The market is at record highs and there is limited capital available with big firms like SpaceX already going public. Less funding can impact future projects by any AI startup.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are looking for sky-high valuations, with the Claude maker inching closer to $1 trillion in its latest valuation.
For OpenAI a lukewarm market reception in case of an early listing is plausible given reports of dysfunction at the Sam Altman-led company, Wall Street Journal reported, especially if it manages to race ahead in terms of prospectus and filing. Which company goes first in the IPO race, and how markets react to it, could help shape the next phase of the AI boom.
