OpenAI Confidentially Files for IPO, Setting Stage for Historic AI Market Debut

OpenAI has confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the ChatGPT maker confirmed on Monday. The filing sets the stage for what could be one of the largest tech IPOs in history.

The move comes just weeks after rival Anthropic also filed for its own IPO, making 2026 the year AI giants head to Wall Street. OpenAI's valuation has been a subject of intense speculation, with recent secondary market transactions suggesting a valuation well above $100 billion.

Key details:

• OpenAI submitted a confidential draft S-1 to the SEC
• The IPO is expected to be one of the largest tech offerings in recent years
• The company joins Anthropic in the race to public markets
• Oracle partnership announced alongside the filing, expanding cloud access to OpenAI models and Codex

The IPO represents a major milestone for the AI industry, which has seen explosive growth since ChatGPT's launch in late 2022. Analysts expect the offering to attract significant retail and institutional investor interest, though questions remain about the company's path to sustained profitability given the enormous compute costs of training and running frontier AI models.

The number of shares and price range have not yet been determined. OpenAI said the IPO is expected to launch after the SEC completes its review process.