ChatGPT owner preparing $1 trillion Wall Street push
The creator of ChatGPT has filed paperwork to begin the process of becoming a publicly traded company, and it is eyeing a valuation of more than $US1 trillion ($1.4 trillion).
The blockbuster move would put OpenAI in rarefied air as one of the most valuable companies in Wall Street history, but it’s not the only tech giant barrelling towards an initial public offering (IPO).
OpenAI co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman speaking in Washington earlier this month. Bloomberg
It comes hot on the heels of OpenAI’s biggest competitor Anthropic filing similar paperwork for an IPO last week.
OpenAI’s move comes just days before Elon Musk’s SpaceX goes public, which could turn the rocket and AI company into a $US1.78 trillion juggernaut.
In a statement, OpenAI said it had not given a timeframe for when it would list on America’s most influential stock exchange.
“It may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” the statement said.
“But it’s a complicated set of trade-offs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”
OpenAI was last valued at $US852 billion after raising $US112 billion in March.
It’s the latest salvo in a global war for dollars in artificial intelligence, which has become personal between OpenAI’s founder Sam Altman and the world’s richest man Elon Musk.
Musk helped co-found and fund OpenAI, giving $US38 million in its early years.
He sued chief executive Altman, company president Greg Brockman and OpenAI in February 2024, alleging that they “stole a charity” and unjustly enriched themselves when they shifted to a structure that included a for-profit arm.
More to come.
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