According to Fortune, OpenAI is racing toward an initial public offering potentially as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026. The AI lab, currently valued at a staggering $500 billion, has reportedly started informal talks with Wall Street banks and hired new finance executives to prepare. But here’s the kicker: the company doesn’t expect to turn a profit until 2030, and it’s projected to face a $207 billion funding shortfall by then despite potentially earning $213 billion in revenue. The IPO push may be partly to beat rival Anthropic to the public markets, as Anthropic claims it could break even by 2028. OpenAI is also in the midst of a massive fundraising push, looking to raise another $100 billion at an $830 billion valuation, on top of the IPO.
The rush to go public
So why the hurry? The timing feels incredibly aggressive. OpenAI is basically trying to IPO while it’s still a financial black hole, burning through billions annually to build out a $1.4 trillion data center empire. One theory is they want to get ahead of Anthropic, which is telling a slightly more palatable story about reaching profitability. But the bigger reason might be pure, unadulterated cash necessity. They need staggering amounts of capital, and the private markets, while deep, aren’t infinitely deep. An IPO opens up the entire public equity spigot. It’s also a classic talent retention play. Going public turns employee stock from a paper promise into liquid cash, which makes it a lot harder for your star researchers to walk out the door to the next hot startup.
A ultimate test of investor faith
This IPO isn’t just about raising money for OpenAI. It’s shaping up to be the ultimate litmus test for the entire generative AI investment thesis. To date, most public market bets on AI have been through giants like Microsoft or Alphabet—companies with massive, profitable existing businesses. A pure-play AI company like OpenAI going public while projecting losses for half a decade is a whole different beast. Can the market stomach that? If investors pile in, it signals that the “growth over profits” mantra from the dot-com and SaaS eras is alive and well, just on a scale we’ve literally never seen before. But if they balk? That’s a huge warning sign that the hype cycle has peaked and fundamentals are back in vogue.
The not-so-fun parts of being public
Now, Sam Altman has said he’s not thrilled about being a public company CEO, and you can see why. The scrutiny will be intense. Every quarter, they’ll have to disclose just how much cash is going up in smoke to train the next GPT model. Shareholders will demand growth and answers, which could complicate OpenAI’s often-stated mission of developing “safe, beneficial” AI. Do you slow down for safety and miss a quarterly revenue target? That’s a tough conversation with Wall Street. They’ll also have to publicly detail all their legal and regulatory risks, from copyright lawsuits to concerns about AI’s psychological impact. And frankly, the compensation magic might fade. New hires get stock options, not pre-IPO equity. Those options could be worth a fortune or nothing, tying their value directly to the volatile post-IPO stock price.
What this means for the AI gold rush
Look, an OpenAI IPO this year would be a spectacle. It would create a brand-new, massive pure-play AI stock for everyone from retail investors to giant pension funds to bet on. But it also feels like a potential inflection point. We’re talking about a company guiding toward no profit for six years while needing to fill a $200+ billion funding gap. That’s not a business; it’s a bet on a future so dominant it justifies any present cost. Is the market still willing to make that bet? The answer will tell us if the AI boom is just getting started or if it’s about to face a brutal reality check. Either way, buckle up.
