APREX · EST. 2026
OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – has formally taken its first step toward a public listing. According to Wired, the company filed a confidential S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 22, 2026, with major banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley serving as advisers. The announcement came barely a week after rival Anthropic did the same.
Ambition meets reality
Sam Altman and OpenAI are targeting a market capitalization of $1 trillion. That is a dramatic leap from the company's most recent known private valuation of $852 billion, set during a record-breaking $122 billion funding round in March 2026.
Analysts note that the target valuation equates to roughly 40 times the company's annualized revenue – a multiple that demands sustained hypergrowth and a clear path to profitability.
Deep red numbers beneath the surface
The company's financial position is far from straightforward. Research sources indicate that in Q1 2026, OpenAI spent approximately $2.22 for every dollar it earned, resulting in a quarterly loss of nearly $7 billion. Compute costs alone consumed 67 percent of revenue, leaving a gross margin of just 33 percent.
Investment bank HSBC estimates, according to the same source, that the company may need around $207 billion in additional financing through 2030 to meet its existing obligations.
SpaceX's market debut sent a chilling signal
The timing of an actual listing remains uncertain. Early speculation pointed to Q4 2026, but according to research sources, both management and advisers are now considering pushing the listing to 2027.
A key factor is SpaceX's rocky stock market debut in June 2026, when shares fell after an initial surge. The episode is said to have prompted OpenAI executives and advisers to urge caution, as it demonstrated that even the most hyped mega-tech companies can struggle in an unstable market.
The broader technology market has also experienced heightened volatility since May 2026, further dampening enthusiasm.
A delay is a confidence signal, not a demand signal – but if the most talked-about AI company hesitates at a trillion-dollar valuation, the market may reconsider what it is willing to pay for everything downstream.
Anthropic is pressing hard
While OpenAI weighs its options, rival Anthropic is moving quickly. According to research materials, Anthropic surpassed OpenAI's private valuation in late May 2026, with an estimated value of $965 billion. The company is expected to report $10.9 billion in revenue for Q2 2026 – and is said to have achieved a positive operating result of around $559 million. These are figures that could influence how public markets ultimately price OpenAI.
Who owns OpenAI?
The road ahead
OpenAI finds itself in a demanding position: investor appetite for AI exposure remains strong, but the market has grown more selective and is demanding proof of profitability – not just future potential. Increased regulatory scrutiny of frontier AI models adds further pressure on the company's room to maneuver.
Whether the listing ultimately lands in 2026 or slips to 2027 remains to be seen. But with a confidential S-1 filed and two of the world's most powerful investment banks on board, the starting gun has unquestionably been fired.