OpenAI is preparing to confidentially file a draft of its initial public offering (IPO) as soon as Friday, May 22. This marks one of the largest public market debuts in history.
The company behind ChatGPT, now valued at over $850 billion by private investors, is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to file this filing, which could happen in the next few days or weeks, CNBC reported on Wednesday, May 20.
An OpenAI representative said in a statement: “As part of normal governance, we regularly evaluate a number of strategic options. Our focus remains on execution.”
The AI firm has already planned to hit the markets by the end of the year, possibly even with a splash in September, Reuters reported.
The move comes less than two days after OpenAI successfully defended itself against a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk, claiming the company violated its nonprofit status.
This happened after an advisory jury concluded that Musk filed the suit too late. OpenAI’s planned IPO could be upended by another rival company, SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, which plans to file its own prospectus confidentially as early as Wednesday.
SpaceX is currently valued at $1.25 trillion and it works with Goldman Sachs as the leading left bank.
