OpenAI CFO Reveals How Soon the IPO Could Actually Land

OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said that the artificial intelligence (AI) lab will go public in 2027. She added that the debut could arrive sooner if the “business continues to inflect.”

Friar delivered the timeline at an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, more than two months after OpenAI submitted a confidential S-1 registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

OpenAI IPO Timeline Now Points to 2027

In June, OpenAI named no debut date and left the door open to staying private longer. Friar’s remarks give the clearest internal signal so far.

She framed the offering as a funding step rather than an endpoint. Friar pointed to the $122 billion OpenAI raised in March as the source of flexibility.

“The IPO is not a finish line, it is a milestone, another fundraise. We raised $122 billion in March, and that gives us flexibility,” Friar said.

The company has a post-money valuation of $852 billion. 

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Anthropic Could Reach the Market First

Rival Anthropic has also filed confidentially and has held early meetings with prospective investors. A $2 trillion valuation has circulated ahead of a possible autumn debut. Friar told staff not to worry if Anthropic lifts the cover on its filing first. 

“There is a chance they pull the cover off that confidential file in the coming weeks and become public in September. That’s OK, we are running our own race,” she added.

The revenue gap between the two remains wide.  Anthropic shared a preliminary revenue figure of $11.5 billion for the second quarter. The firm’s annualized run rate also increased to $65 billion at the end of July. 

OpenAI reportedly generated $6.7 billion in the second quarter, up 18% from the first. Its annualized revenue run rate recently topped $40 billion.

Friar’s slides showed OpenAI’s revenue run rate up 35% quarter-to-date and enterprise revenue up 50%. The company’s coding and work products now reach 20 million weekly active users.

The stability pitch also comes after a run of senior departures from OpenAI. Revenue chief Denise Dresser, Brad Lightcap, and product business head Fidji Simo have all stepped away.

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