OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, submitted a confidential draft S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday in preparation for a possible initial public offering (IPO), which could become one of the largest in market history.
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Key Takeaways
- Key points:
- On June 8, 2026, OpenAI submitted a confidential S-1 filing to the SEC, with a post-investment valuation of $852 billion, but the IPO date has not yet been determined.
- This filing follows Anthropic's confidential S-1 filing on June 1, as well as the jury's May 2026 ruling supporting OpenAI's completion of the Public Benefit Corporation restructuring.
- Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been confirmed as underwriters, with reports suggesting the initial public offering (IPO) will take place in September 2026, though OpenAI has not yet confirmed this date.
OpenAI has confirmed that it has submitted the documents
The company acknowledged the submission in a widely circulated statement on social media. OpenAI stated: "We recently submitted a confidential S-1 file. We anticipate the document will be leaked, so we hereby announce this. The company added that this filing should not be interpreted as a signal of an imminent listing, stating that the "timetable has not yet been determined," and that it may remain privatized for some time, while retaining the option to list early when conditions permit.
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This move comes one week after Anthropic submitted its confidential S-1 filing on June 1, 2026, marking the simultaneous move of these two leading U.S. AI developers toward the public market.
Development history
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit organization. In 2019, the company added a profit-capped subsidiary and subsequently restructured again into a public benefit company to support larger-scale financing. This restructuring faced legal challenges from co-founder Elon Musk, who accused the company of deviating from its original purpose. In May 2026, the jury ruled in favor of OpenAI, removing one of the most prominent obstacles on its path to going public.
In March 2026, OpenAI completed a $122 billion funding round, with a post-investment valuation of $852 billion. Participants include SoftBank, Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft. Its total private placement financing has now exceeded $170 billion.
Revenue and cash burn rate
OpenAI's monthly revenue is about $2 billion, with the last fiscal year's revenue reported at about $13.1 billion. ChatGPT claims to have over 900 million weekly active users and about 50 million paying consumer subscribers.
The company has yet to turn a profit. Due to the costs of computing infrastructure, data centers, and model training, the pace of capital consumption remains high. Analysts predict that huge losses will persist for the foreseeable future, and achieving breakeven in free cash flow may take several more years.
IPO mechanism and timeline
After submitting the classified version of the S-1 filing, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will privately review the draft. After submitting confidential documents, no public timetable has been set yet. Standard processes include: SEC review, public submission of S-1 filings, roadshow, pricing, and listing. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are reported to serve as lead underwriters.
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Previous reports suggested a possible IPO in September 2026, but OpenAI's statement did not confirm this timeframe, leaving some room for negotiation.
Competitive Background
Anthropic was valued at about $965 billion in its most recent private placement and filed a confidential S-1 filing a week ago. SpaceX submitted earlier, targeting a valuation of several trillion dollars. Together, these companies form the largest cluster of highly valued private enterprises, and are simultaneously testing market acceptance of them.
OpenAI's competitors include Google's Gemini, Elon Musk's xAI, Meta, and the growing camp of Chinese AI developers. Public investors will focus on profit margins, infrastructure costs, and the long-term economic benefits of mass-building and operating cutting-edge AI models.
OpenAI's "For All Humanity" declaration
Alongside the submission of the S-1 filing, OpenAI released a declarative document outlining its long-term vision, which includes a clear goal of enabling everyone on Earth to have a personal artificial general intelligence (AGI) system. The company also revealed an internal goal: by March 2028, AI systems are expected to be able to collaborate with human researchers to handle a significant portion of their own research workload. OpenAI positions this IPO as a starting point rather than an end, viewing it as the beginning of the so-called "third phase"—a phase focused on massively popularizing advanced AI at affordable prices, rather than concentrating technical capabilities in the hands of a few institutions.
What should investors pay attention to?
Once a public S-1 file is filed, it will disclose the audited financial statements, detailed risk factors, and equity structure. This document will enable investors for the first time to assess OpenAI's financial health with transparency that meets regulatory standards. Until then, the company remains confidential, with no specific listing date yet determined.