OpenAI has confidentially submitted paperwork for an IPO as competitors in the AI sector accelerate their plans to go public.

      TL;DR: OpenAI has secretly filed for an IPO with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, potentially set to list this fall. Anthropic submitted their filing last week at a $965 billion valuation. SpaceX is expected to go public on Thursday with a valuation of $1.8 trillion. The AI public market is on the brink of absorbing three significant listings.

      OpenAI has confirmed that it submitted confidential IPO documents to the SEC on Monday. According to sources familiar with the situation, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are advising on a possible listing that may happen as early as this autumn.

      This filing positions OpenAI as the third major AI-related company to approach public markets within a week, following Anthropic’s confidential submission last week at a private valuation of $965 billion. SpaceX, which now includes xAI, is anticipated to begin trading on Thursday at an estimated $1.8 trillion.

      OpenAI's cautious phrasing in a statement indicated, “We have not determined the timing yet; it might take some time because there are initiatives we prefer to pursue as a private company. However, it’s a complex set of trade-offs, and this provides us the possibility to go public sooner if that turns out to be the best course of action.”

      The company is also planning a tender offer for shares in the upcoming weeks to give liquidity to its employees ahead of any public listing. OpenAI raised $122 billion in funding in March at a valuation of $852 billion, marking the largest private fundraising in history.

      Competitive pressures are growing, as Anthropic recently surpassed OpenAI’s valuation for the first time in its latest private funding round, reaching $965 billion, fueled by its rising revenue. This shift, combined with SpaceX’s upcoming $1.8 trillion listing, puts pressure on OpenAI to establish a public-market benchmark before its rivals set the standards.

      OpenAI has communicated to investors its intention to invest around $600 billion in AI infrastructure by 2030. Such a funding requirement is hard to meet continuously through private funding rounds, even at OpenAI’s scale.

      The challenges related to the filing include the S-1, which will need to tackle various known issues when made public. Reports indicate that OpenAI has missed some internal revenue and user growth objectives, and several key executives have either left or reduced their involvement.

      The company is continuing its transition from a non-profit to a for-profit organization, and while the unsuccessful lawsuit by Musk to block this conversion is legally resolved, it has brought internal documents that public-market investors will closely examine.

      With the simultaneous approach of OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX to public markets, it will be interesting to see if there is sufficient investor interest in AI to accommodate three major listings at once. SpaceX is seeking $75 billion alone.

      Should all three succeed, AI companies would have raised more capital through public markets in a single year than ever before in the sector's history. However, if demand diminishes, the last company to file may face the highest costs for delaying.