OpenAI preemptively files for historic tech IPO

OpenAI announced that it has submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The highly anticipated filing sets the stage for the ChatGPT creator, recently valued at US$852 billion, to execute what could become one of the largest technology listings in financial history.

Underwriters Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are reportedly leading the process, positioning OpenAI for a potential market debut as early as the final quarter of this year.

The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence pioneer chose to disclose the filing proactively.

"We recently submitted a confidential S-1. We expect it to leak, so we’re just announcing it," the company stated on its website.

While the draft submission allows regulators to privately review OpenAI's financial records—disclosing its true revenue and margins for the first time—the company capitalised on the moment to hedge its timeline.

"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. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs, and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best."

OpenAI’s announcement lands exactly one week after its chief rival, Anthropic, made its own confidential IPO submission at a US$965 billion valuation.

Both AI heavyweights are also chasing Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is launching an investor roadshow ahead of its historic market debut this June 12.