OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, appears poised to file for an initial public offering (IPO) with securities market authorities as early as this week.
OpenAI has been preparing an investor prospectus with investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and plans to submit it confidentially to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as early as the 22nd (local time), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 20th, citing sources.
OpenAI is aiming to list in September. However, related plans could change.
OpenAI recently won a lawsuit against Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, one of the main hurdles to its listing push. However, CEO Musk has said he plans to appeal.
OpenAI is rushing its listing because major tech corporations are preparing IPOs one after another this year. SpaceX has flagged a Nasdaq listing on Aug. 12, and Anthropic is also aiming to list within the year.
In particular, since Anthropic is competing with OpenAI across all areas related to AI models, seizing the IPO market first is seen as advantageous for securing large-scale funding. However, the WSJ noted that to ensure a successful IPO, it must demonstrate enough revenue to justify massive AI infrastructure expenditure.
OpenAI is restructuring its business to counter Anthropic, which is growing rapidly in the corporations client market. It is accelerating profitability improvements by shutting down parts of its video generation service and focusing on services such as AI coding tools that have high corporations demand.