OpenAI May Debut IPO as Soon as Friday: WSJ Reports

Key Takeaways

• AI startup OpenAI is close to debuting its IPO on the US stock market, with a potential launch as soon as Friday
• OpenAI recently closed a funding round at an $852 billion valuation
• The firm’s lawsuit with Elon Musk, which was viewed as a key hurdle before the IPO, recently swayed in OpenAI’s favor.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, AI startup OpenAI is close to debuting its IPO on the US stock market, and can launch as soon as Friday. The report states that the AI startup has been working with bankers at at firms including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in prep for the filing.

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OpenAI Nears Potential Record-Breaking Stock IPO

WSJ sources say that Sam Altman and OpenAI’s plan is to debut the IPO by September, however, this Friday remains in the cards. The AI giant cleared a major roadblock earlier this week, winning in its lawsuit battle with founder Elon Musk. Now, all that stands in its path is generating enough revenue to support its data-center spending, which is its biggest capital expenditure.

The sources added that OpenAI plans to file confidentially with regulators soon, but the exact timeline remains fluid. The firm has continued to raise money as competition in AI intensifies, leading into the IPO. In March 2026, OpenAI reportedly closed a funding round at an $852 billion valuation. Investors included SoftBank, Microsoft (MSTR), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Andreessen Horowitz. 

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Furthermore, the potential OpenAI IPO launch would put the firm in direct competition with several other perspective launches this year. Elon Musk’s OpenAI announced Wednesday that it has filed its own IPO, and is confident its stock offering will go live in the coming weeks. In the AI sector specifically, Claude developer Anthropic is also eyeing an IPO sometime this year, although details for that are less concrete.

The year could end up as the biggest year ever for IPOs in terms of total money raised, if all goes according to plan. In addition to SpaceX and OpenAI, Anthropic is also exploring what would be a massive public debut, while listing activity has also picked up for smaller companies.

How Will the OpenAI IPO Perform: Can It Outperform Big Tech?

How Will OpenAI’s IPO Perform, Can it Compete With Big Tech?

OpenAI has fought through a host of challenges, renegotiating its partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), converting its structure to enable an IPO and winning the legal fight with Musk ahead of its IPO. Investors have continued to question OpenAI’s finances, specifically where it plans to raise all the funds ahead of the stock debut. However, the company’s issued promising updates that could help with this task.

Most recently, OpenAI launched the OpenAI Deployment Company in an effort to help businesses deploy reliable AI systems. The new company new company backed by more than $4 billion in initial capital, adding to the hundreds of billions in OpenAI’s current valuation. Furthermore, it was also revealed this past weekend that more than 600 current and former OpenAI employees have sold their shares back to the firm. This was a combined $6.6 billion worth of shares, giving the staff one of the biggest pre-IPO cash-outs ever.

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