OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has filed confidentially for a blockbuster initial public offering that could value it at more than $1 trillion — entering a race to Wall Street alongside rivals Anthropic and SpaceX as investor appetite for artificial intelligence reaches extraordinary levels.
The ChatGPT maker submitted its filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, setting it on a pathway to a long-awaited public debut. No size, terms or timeline for the offering have been disclosed, but OpenAI is widely expected to want to reach market before Anthropic — the maker of the Claude chatbot, which filed its own confidential IPO application just last week. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is the furthest along in the process and is set to IPO on Friday, looking to raise as much as $86 billion.
The three companies are together targeting valuations in excess of $1 trillion each, in what amounts to an unprecedented convergence of mega-cap AI listings arriving simultaneously on global markets.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said the news arrived at a telling moment. “Just when the supersized tech rally was looking a little tired, along comes the news of OpenAI’s decision to IPO. Presumably the move has been spurred along by Anthropic’s recent move towards a public listing, and now markets face the test of yet another superheavyweight firm listing to test demand for these highly-valued companies that promise to reshape not just the investing landscape, but the entirety of human society.” He drew a pointed historical parallel, adding: “The parallels with the early 2010s when the previous wave of loss-making tech costs are clear, but this time the stakes are much higher and the risks much greater.”
The financial reality behind the eye-watering valuations is sobering. OpenAI is estimated to spend upwards of $100 billion a year on infrastructure and processing power alone, and all three companies are expected to post substantial losses for years to come. SpaceX, the most advanced in its listing plans, reported a total operating loss of $1.94 billion in the first quarter, with only its Starlink connectivity division turning a profit. Investment management firm Morningstar has already described SpaceX as “significantly overvalued” and cut its valuation to $780 billion.
OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, gained first-mover advantage when it launched ChatGPT in November 2022 and secured a landmark partnership with Microsoft, but has since faced intensifying competition from Anthropic and others.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, urged caution. “AI is a relatively new game, the rules have not been fully drawn up — with regulation still playing catch-up — so potential winners and losers are still hard to pin down. Investors should tread carefully amid the coming months of IPO fervour, and take part only if they are highly diversified, and with money they may be prepared to lose given the risks right now.”
