OpenAI Files Confidential IPO Paperwork, Targets $1 Trillion Valuation

Quick Facts

• OpenAI filed confidential S-1 registration with SEC for IPO targeting September 2026 debut at $1 trillion-plus valuation
• Company hit $25 billion annualized revenue in February 2026, up from $20 billion at end of 2025, but projects $14 billion loss in 2026
• Filing comes week after rival Anthropic went public at $965 billion valuation, topping OpenAI’s $852 billion March 2026 funding round

OpenAI announced Monday it submitted a confidential S-1 registration statement for an initial public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The AI company targets a public listing as early as September 2026 at a valuation above $1 trillion.

The filing follows competitor Anthropic’s public debut at a $965 billion valuation, creating intense competition between the AI giants. OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion in its March 2026 funding round that raised $122 billion.

Revenue Growth Masks Profitability Challenges

OpenAI hit $25 billion in annualized revenue in February 2026, up from $20 billion at the end of 2025, according to research firm Sacra. The company reported approximately $2 billion in monthly revenue as of March 2026.

Enterprise customers now represent more than 40% of revenue and are on track to reach parity with consumer revenue by the end of 2026, CFO Sarah Friar said.

Despite strong revenue growth, OpenAI faces significant profitability headwinds. The company posted a 33% gross margin, constrained by inference costs that reached $8.4 billion in 2025 and are projected to rise to $14.1 billion in 2026.

OpenAI projects losses of $14 billion in 2026 alone and does not expect profitability until around 2030. HSBC analysts estimate the company may need over $207 billion in additional funding by 2030 to maintain operations.

Market Competition Intensifies

The IPO race comes as Google’s Gemini has grown its web traffic share from 5.7% to 21.5% in the past 12 months, while ChatGPT’s share dropped from 86.7% to 64.5% over the same period, according to Similarweb data.

“OpenAI is keeping options open as Anthropic edged ahead with its filing after a monster funding round,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, partner at Cerity Partners.

SpaceX is also expected to debut at a $1.75 trillion valuation, meaning three of the most closely watched tech companies could go public within months of each other.

Banking and Retail Access

OpenAI is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to prepare the filing. The confidential submission means a public S-1 will not be visible until 60 to 90 days after submission, placing the earliest public prospectus in late July or August 2026.

Friar told CNBC the company will reserve shares for retail investors when it goes public. “Everybody wants to own part of a rocket company — I hope everyone wants to own part of ChatGPT,” she said.

Prediction markets assign a 79.5% probability to an OpenAI IPO by year-end, with the strongest consensus (47.9%) for a closing market cap above $1.5 trillion.

Read more: OpenAI confidentially files its IPO paperwork as it inches closer to stock market debut