Sam Altman Called Any OpenAI IPO Valuation Below $1 Trillion a "Nonstarter." Should Investors Prefer OpenAI or SpaceX?

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, reportedly refuses to take the AI company public at any valuation below $1 trillion. There are already ways to invest indirectly in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. But an IPO would finally give investors a chance to participate directly.

Why is Altman so adamant about bringing the company public with at least a $1 trillion valuation? He likely saw the success of Space Exploration Technologies' (NASDAQ: SPCX) IPO, which saw such heavy public demand that the company's market cap quickly soared to over $2 trillion.

While many people still think of SpaceX as a rocket stock, more than 90% of the company's claimed total addressable market deals with a single opportunity: AI. So comparing OpenAI to SpaceX is more appropriate than many realize.

Will OpenAI be a better investment than SpaceX?

According to reports, OpenAI generated roughly $13 billion in revenue in 2025. So far in 2026, it is generating around $2 billion per month in sales, a trend that would suggest full-year 2026 revenue of around $24 billion. If growth trends persist, however, that figure could be much higher, implying at least 100% annual sales growth.

The issue isn't sales growth, but profitability. The company apparently accrued a net loss of $38.5 billion in 2025, while generating a $8.5 billion net loss in the first quarter of 2026. A public IPO would help OpenAI raise cash quickly, with an arguably easier path toward raising future capital.

Keep in mind that SpaceX's AI division is also growing revenues fast, generating large net losses to boot. This is just the reality of operating an AI business today -- the capital intensity of building and operating more data center infrastructure is extremely costly, adding a big drag to accounting profits despite high sales growth.

Image source: Getty Images.

Investors should keep in mind that an OpenAI IPO may not arrive for some time. "Am I excited to be a public company CEO? 0%. Am I excited for OpenAI to be a public company? In some ways, I am, and in some ways I think it'd be really annoying," Altman revealed last December. And while OpenAI did officially file for an IPO in early June, the company doesn't seem to be in a hurry to execute a public sale. "We have not decided on timing yet," Altman stressed.

Will OpenAI end up being a better bargain than SpaceX? We'll have minimal concrete details for making that distinction until a public prospectus is filed. That may not even happen this year. The New York Times recently reported that an OpenAI IPO may not occur until 2027.

I'm excited to see more AI giants go public, providing a better relative gauge for how highly SpaceX's AI division is being valued. But I won't be holding my breath for an OpenAI IPO this year.

Ryan Vanzo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.