Altman tells staff OpenAI expects to go public within a year

Altman Tells Staff OpenAI IPO Expected “Within the Next Year”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees earlier this week that he expects the company to go public “within the next year,” according to a report by The Information on Wednesday, offering the most specific timeline yet for what could become one of the largest stock market debuts in history.bloomberglaw

The message, delivered via Slack, came days after OpenAI announced on Monday that it had confidentially filed a draft S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — a prerequisite for an initial public offering.fortune

A Trillion-Dollar Ambition

OpenAI is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion for its market debut, Reuters has previously reported, which would make it the largest IPO ever recorded. The company was last valued at $852 billion following a private funding round in March 2026. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase are leading the deal.youtube

Altman told staff that “many things could cause it to be sooner or later in that range, but filing now gives us optionality if we want to go sooner,” according to The Information. He also disclosed that OpenAI is preparing to launch a tender offer “very soon” at a share price of $687.69, giving employees another opportunity to sell equity before a public listing.thestar

Caveats and Competing Pressures

Despite the accelerated timeline, OpenAI itself struck a more cautious tone in its public statement Monday. “We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” the company wrote.theaiinsider

Among the factors that could delay the listing: potential breakthroughs in recursive self-improvement, a capability that would allow AI systems to enhance their own development without human intervention. Anthropic, OpenAI’s chief rival, warned last week that AI’s ability to autonomously accomplish tasks has been accelerating roughly every four months, moving the industry toward that threshold.valuethemarkets

OpenAI’s path to public markets has not been without internal friction. The Information reported in April that CFO Sarah Friar had privately disagreed with Altman’s push for a fourth-quarter 2026 listing, voicing concerns about the company’s readiness. OpenAI continues to lose money — its projected 2026 revenue of $34 billion comes alongside operating losses that exceed its income.europeanbusinessmagazine

The filing places OpenAI in a three-way race to Wall Street alongside SpaceX and Anthropic, both of which are also pursuing IPOs this year.nytimes