OpenAI is reportedly moving closer to an IPO, with plans to file as early as the fourth quarter of 2026 and aim for a 2027 public listing. According to CNBC, the company’s valuation in market discussions could reach as high as $1 trillion, putting the ChatGPT developer within range of one of the largest public market debuts in the tech sector.
The report said OpenAI’s pre-money valuation in its latest fundraising round reached $740 billion. After adding $110 billion in new capital, its total valuation rose to more than $840 billion. That leaves the company closer to the trillion-dollar mark, but public market investors are likely to focus less on private-market enthusiasm and more on the durability of its revenue base.
Revenue Growth Is Central to the IPO Case
OpenAI’s annualized revenue reached $25 billion in February 2026, up from $20 billion at the end of 2025. Internally, the company is targeting $30 billion in full-year 2026 revenue and $62 billion in 2027.
If that trajectory holds, it would provide a stronger foundation for the valuation being discussed. Still, investors in AI companies do not look only at top-line expansion. They also want proof that revenue can repeat at scale and that margins can improve over time.
Enterprise Conversion Becomes a Bigger Priority
Since its 2022 launch, ChatGPT has grown to more than 900 million weekly active users. That is a massive user base. It does not automatically solve the monetization question. Free users can drive reach, but paid conversion remains the engine for revenue, especially in the enterprise segment.
Fidji Simo, chief executive of OpenAI’s applications division, told CNBC that the company is focused on helping businesses and shifting toward productivity-heavy use cases, with the goal of turning those 900 million users into high-compute paying users. The financial logic is straightforward: enterprise customers tend to generate higher spending per account and stronger renewal patterns than consumers.
Competition and Compute Costs Still Matter
OpenAI is not alone in chasing enterprise AI demand. Google already has a longstanding foothold through Workspace, while Anthropic is also evaluating its own IPO path. That means OpenAI will likely need to show hard evidence before listing, including enterprise customer numbers and contract scale, to justify why it deserves a premium valuation.
The report also pointed to the company’s heavy compute burden. Each conversation requires significant GPU resources, and that cost structure remains a major issue. For a company seeking a $1 trillion valuation, revenue growth by itself may not be enough. Investors will also watch for higher paid usage, deeper enterprise integration, and clearer unit economics.