OpenAI and SpaceX Prepare Record-Breaking Public Offerings

A wave of artificial intelligence and aerospace giants is moving toward public markets, led by OpenAI, which filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Targeting a September 2026 debut, OpenAI aims to raise $60 billion and could achieve a valuation exceeding $1 trillion. The company is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to facilitate the listing, which follows a legal victory over co-founder Elon Musk, whose challenge to the company's for-profit structure was rejected by a federal jury.

OpenAI faces significant financial pressure, with projected computing and infrastructure costs of $600 billion over five years and expected losses of $14 billion in 2026. The company intends to use public capital to fund these semiconductors and data centers while competing with Anthropic, which has reported $30 billion in annualized revenue.

Simultaneously, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. released an IPO prospectus to raise approximately $75 billion, with a potential valuation of $2 trillion. Other firms, including Anthropic and Oura Health, are also preparing for public debuts. To accommodate these mega-caps, Nasdaq implemented a fast-track rule allowing companies to join the Nasdaq-100 after 15 trading days, while S&P Dow Jones Indices is considering waiving profitability requirements for similar listings.