OpenAI files confidential IPO request with SEC; target valuation exceeds US$ 1 trillion

OpenAI filed a confidential request for an initial public offering (IPO) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, May 22. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are coordinating the operation. The information was confirmed by sources familiar with the process to CNBC, Reuters, and Bloomberg, who reported on Wednesday, May 20, that the filing could occur later this week.

With a private valuation exceeding US$ 850 billion, OpenAI aims for a listing that surpasses US$ 1 trillion, which would make the IPO the largest in the history of the technology sector. The company's annualised revenue exceeded US$ 30 billion at the beginning of 2026, compared to approximately US$ 9 billion at the end of 2025, with over 1,000 companies paying above US$ 1 million annually in API and enterprise service contracts.

Why now

The decision to advance to public markets coincides with the elimination of the company's major legal obstacle. On May 18, a California jury unanimously rejected all claims brought by Elon Musk against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. The case, which sought US$ 150 billion in damages, was dismissed due to statute of limitations issues after less than two hours of deliberation. The removal of this legal risk simplifies the governance narrative that the company will need to present to institutional investors.

OpenAI has also completed, in recent months, the transition from a non-profit entity with capped returns to a Public Benefit Corporation structure, which allows external investors access to unlimited returns. Without this structural change, approved after months of negotiations with the California Attorney General, a public listing would have been unviable.

The AI IPO landscape in 2026

OpenAI will not be the only major AI company accessing public markets this year. SpaceX filed its public S-1 with Nasdaq on May 20, under the ticker SPCX, aiming for a listing in June. Anthropic has indicated October as a likely window for a similar process. The concentration of three major IPOs of companies linked to AI infrastructure in the second half of 2026 represents a real test of the absorption capacity of American capital markets.

A confidential filing allows the SEC to review the prospectus without the complete financial details becoming public immediately. The typical timeline points to the publication of the definitive S-1 between July and August, with the actual offering in September, depending on market conditions and the regulatory review process.

Implications for the IT consulting sector

For consulting firms providing services related to OpenAI products, the IPO alters the profile of due diligence required by corporate clients. Publicly listed companies are required to disclose operational risks, data governance practices, and exposure to regulations in their quarterly reports, which increases transparency regarding the products that consultancies integrate into solutions for end clients.

Access to debt markets at lower costs, enabled by the listing, may accelerate OpenAI's investments in its own computing infrastructure, reducing dependence on contracts with third-party cloud providers. This potential vertical integration would change the cost structure of models, with direct implications for the prices that consulting firms pay for API calls.

The listing of OpenAI also creates pressure on still-private competitors, particularly Anthropic and Mistral, to demonstrate revenue growth trajectories comparable to those required by institutional investors. For CIOs and CTOs of large enterprises utilising multiple AI providers, the opening of OpenAI's finances to public scrutiny will provide, for the first time, an objective basis for comparing the operational health of different providers over time.

The SEC review process may raise questions about corporate governance, employee access to insider information, and how OpenAI manages model security risks, areas in which the company has a history of public scrutiny. Any additional regulatory requirements could extend the timeline beyond September and put pressure on the listing valuation.

The timing of the filing is also notable against the backdrop of domestic regulatory context: on the same Thursday, the White House postponed the signing of an AI oversight decree that could have imposed review periods of up to 90 days for new models before public release. For OpenAI, which relies on rapid model update cycles to maintain competitive positioning, the absence of formal pre-launch barriers simplifies the growth narrative it will need to sell to the market in the coming months.