5 Things to Know About OpenAI Before Its IPO

OpenAI quickly became the leading artificial intelligence (AI) company when ChatGPT was launched and jump-started the AI race a little over three years ago. The average investor hasn't been able to invest directly in the company, but that's likely to change soon, with OpenAI expected to have its initial public offering (IPO) later this year.

Even if you're a regular ChatGPT user, you might not know some of the details about the company. So, here are five things potential investors should know before the OpenAI IPO.

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1. OpenAI could go public in Q4 2026 at a potential $1 trillion valuation

Multiple reports increasingly suggest its stock could debut as soon as the fourth quarter this year. That timeline isn't set in stone, of course, but the company has made other moves indicating it's getting closer to an IPO, such as expanding its finance team to include an employee dedicated to investor relations and reorienting itself around its core ChatGPT product.

OpenAI is reportedly targeting a valuation of $1 trillion, and the company's latest funding round -- the largest in Silicon Valley history -- raised $122 billion for the company and valued the company at $852 billion. Some of OpenAI's biggest investors from the latest funding round were Softbank, Amazon, and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Aside from its investment in OpenAI, Nvidia has benefited from the surge in demand for its processors thanks to OpenAI's data center infrastructure needs and tech companies trying to keep pace in the AI race.

2. The company estimates $280 billion in annual revenue in 2030

OpenAI has reportedly told potential investors that it will generate $280 billion in annual revenue by 2030. Those sales are expected to come from both the company's enterprise and commercial products.

The company had just $13.1 billion in sales last year, and OpenAI said recently that nearly half of its sales in 2026 will come from its enterprise customers.

It's worth noting here, too, that OpenAI doesn't expect to be cash flow positive until 2029.

3. ChatGPT has 900 million weekly active users

ChatGPT's 900 million weekly active users are the far-and-away leader in the chatbot race, and the company is making big strides in paid subscribers and business accounts -- ChatGPT has 50 million paying customers and 9 million paying business users.

OpenAI rival Anthropic hasn't released any details on how many paid subscribers the company's Claude chatbot has, but a spokesperson recently told TechCrunch that the number of paying Claude subscribers has more than doubled this year.

4. OpenAI will reach $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030

Technology companies have ramped up spending recently to build the most advanced data centers. For example, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Amazon say they'll collectively spend $650 billion on capital expenditures this year, most of which will go toward AI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said late last year that his company has $1.4 trillion in AI infrastructure commitments, but as investors have grown increasingly concerned with how much companies are spending on AI, OpenAI has scaled back some of its spending.

Most recently, the company said it will spend $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030. That's still a lot of money, and it'll certainly put pressure on the company to ensure that revenue is growing quickly after it goes public.

5. It may have a rival IPO around the same time

A recent Bloomberg report said that Anthropic is considering going public in October, potentially putting the company's IPO around the same time as, or even earlier than, OpenAI's. The company is reportedly looking to raise $60 billion, which would be in addition to the $30 billion it raised from a funding round in February, with tech giants, including Nvidia, contributing to the round.

It might seem strange that Nvidia would invest in both OpenAI and Anthropic, but the company is making a strategic decision to put money into both of these AI companies to help fuel more processor demand as they grow and attract more users.

While Anthropic doesn't have as many users as OpenAI, it's been gaining ground in the enterprise market with its popular Claude Cowork tool. It also drew some user attention after the Pentagon dropped its use of Claude following Anthropic's refusal to meet some of the government's demands.

Some AI users now view Anthropic as the company that stood up to the government, while OpenAI quickly swept in and made a deal with the Pentagon just days later. That could pit the two companies' IPOs against each other if some investors view Anthropic as more ethical than OpenAI.

Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.