According to the Wall Street Journal’, OpenAI is approaching one of the most anticipated stock market launches in history, with plans to apply for an IPO in a few days.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer, aims to go public in September 2026, pointing to a major change for the company that started as a non-profit research laboratory in 2015.
1. It may be the largest public offering ever
OpenAI’ reportedly aims to raise $60 billion (€55.4 billion) at the time of its launch. According to Deutsche Bank Research’, this will more than double the $25.6 billion (€23.6 billion) list that Saudi Aramco’ listed in 2019’, making it the largest public offering recorded at the time.
There's a warning. SpaceX, which presented its IPO statement this week, is targeting an increase of up to $75 billion (€69.1 billion). It is looking for a valuation between $1.75 trillion (1.61 trillion euros) and $2 trillion (1.84 trillion euros). This puts the two companies in direct competition for the largest listing in history.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that OpenAI’ has agreed with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to draft a prospectus that could be submitted confidentially to regulatory agencies in a matter of days.
2. A valuation of $1 trillion will make it the 14th largest ’ company in the world
Reports suggest that OpenAI’ could be worth more than $1 trillion (€922 billion) at the time of listing. Deutsche Bank Research analyst Adrian Cox explained the figures on what this means.
ChatGPT producer Berkshire Hathaway will be placed just behind the ’. The holding generated revenues of over $370 billion (341 billion euros) and net earnings of $67 billion (61.8 billion euros) last year. OpenAI will be right ahead of Eli Lilly’, whose sales exceed $65 billion (59.9 billion euros) and earn a profit of $21 billion (19.4 billion euros).
Nvidia is still far ahead. The company has the largest market capitalization in the world and is where public markets are closest to a large investment in artificial intelligence. Deutsche Bank Research states that ChatGPT’ is worth $5.4 trillion (4.98 trillion euros) after its shares have more than tripled since its launch on November 30, 2022.
3. Investors are pursuing pure gaming AI
Currently, retail investors who want to be exposed to artificial intelligence have limited options. They can invest in semiconductor companies, cloud providers or large technology companies.
According to Deutsche Bank Research’, the listing of OpenAI’ will trigger “ to struggle to make the most of investors' appetite for direct exposure to pure artificial intelligence companies in the public markets; This is something that does not exist today.
4. AI IPO race heats up
OpenAI is not alone. Claude’'s producer Anthropic is growing rapidly.
Last month, OpenAI’ surpassed OpenAI’ in sales by 25 billion. $30 billion in annual recurring revenue versus ’ (€23.1 billion) $’a (€27.7 billion) reached.
According to Deutsche Bank Research’'s estimates from The Information’, Anthropic’'s annual recurring revenue is expected to reach around $40 billion (€36.9 billion) this month.
The company may be considering raising more than $60 billion (€55.4 billion) from its IPO this year. Anthropic is also in talks with investors on financing worth $900 billion (830 billion euros). This will put the firm ahead of OpenAI’'s current private market valuation of $852 billion (€786 billion).
Deutsche Bank Research states, based on data from the University of Florida, that a $60 billion increase would be greater than the total in IPOs in the U.S. ’, except for four years since 1980’.
The U.S. stock market is currently around $70 trillion (64.6 trillion euros). This is roughly five times larger in nominal terms compared to the peak of the dot-com bubble.
5. There are still big questions about the business model.
Despite its scale and ambition, OpenAI has never made a profit.
According to Deutsche Bank Research’, the company is expected to generate annual revenues of around $30 billion (27.7 billion euros) this month.
But internal estimates reported by The Information show that it is on track to lose $14 billion (€12.9 billion) in 2026’ alone. Cumulative losses could reach $44 billion (€40.6 billion) ahead of profitability in 2029’.
As Deutsche Bank Research’ notes, when they opened up their “ financial charts and explained the still under-understood economy of their business model, it was yet to be seen how public markets would value OpenAI’ye and its peers.”
OpenAI has taken steps to prepare. It modernized its products, focused on enterprise customers, and clarified its partnership with Microsoft.
October 2025’te completes its transition from a nonprofit to a public interest organization. But questions remain about how to value AI model companies.
In recent months, OpenAI has been carefully laying the foundations by streamlining its products, focusing on enterprise customers, and clarifying its partnership with Microsoft.
October 2025’te completes its transition from a nonprofit to a public interest organization. But questions remain about how to value AI model companies.
