OpenAI Considers Delaying IPO Until 2027 to Seek $1 Trillion Valuation

OpenAI is considering delaying its initial public offering until 2027, shifting away from previous plans to list as early as the third or fourth quarter of 2026. The company submitted a confidential S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 8 and is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. However, CEO Sam Altman has reportedly rejected any valuation lower than $1 trillion, calling such a reduction a nonstarter despite the company's last private valuation of $852 billion.

The potential delay follows a slump in the public tech market, specifically the volatility of SpaceX's June 12 IPO, where shares plummeted after a record debut. Market instability and investor concerns over AI spending have further influenced the decision. Internally, CFO Sarah Friar has raised concerns regarding the company's financial footing, noting a net loss of $38.53 billion in 2025 and massive compute infrastructure commitments totaling approximately $600 billion through 2030. To bolster revenue, OpenAI is testing ChatGPT advertising and e-commerce partnerships with Shopify and Stripe.

The prospect of a delay caused SoftBank Group shares to drop as much as 13% in Tokyo, as the investor faces a $40 billion debt maturity in March 2027. Meanwhile, rival Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI in private valuation at $965 billion and may go public first. Separately, OpenAI agreed to a phased rollout of its GPT-5.6 model following security concerns raised by the U.S. government and is currently facing a subpoena from 42 state attorneys general.