The Wall Street Journal and Reuters have reported that the company is working toward a potential IPO in late 2026 or early 2027, a move that could value the firm at as much as $1 trillion.
Sam Altman, the chief executive of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, said he is “zero percent excited” about the prospect of running a public company, stopping short of confirming reports that the artificial intelligence firm is preparing for a future stock market listing.
Speaking on the Big Technology Podcast hosted by Alex Kantrowitz, Altman was asked how he would feel if OpenAI were to go public.
“Am I excited to be a public company CEO? zero percent,” Altman said. “Am I excited for OpenAI to be a public company? In some ways, I am, and in some ways, I think it’d be really annoying.”
His comments come amid growing speculation about OpenAI’s financial plans. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters have reported that the company is working toward a potential initial public offering in late 2026 or early 2027, a move that could value the firm at as much as $1 trillion.
Altman declined to confirm those reports and said he did not know whether OpenAI would pursue an IPO in 2026. He also avoided confirming a separate report by The Information that said the company is in talks to raise “tens of billions of dollars” from investors at a valuation of around $750 billion.
Despite his reservations about public markets, Altman acknowledged their role in large-scale value creation and said OpenAI’s capital needs may eventually make a public listing unavoidable.
“I do think it’s cool that public markets get to participate in value creation,” Altman said. “And in some sense, we will be very late to go public if you look at any previous company.”
Altman emphasised that OpenAI remains a capital-intensive business as competition intensifies across the AI sector, requiring sustained investment in computing infrastructure, talent and research.
“It’s wonderful to be a private company,” he said. “We need lots of capital. We’re going to cross all of the shareholder limits and stuff at some point.”
Founded as a nonprofit research lab in 2015, OpenAI has since evolved into a hybrid structure and emerged as one of the most influential companies in artificial intelligence, backed by Microsoft and other major investors. Its rapid growth and soaring valuation have made it a focal point for debate over how AI leaders should balance innovation, governance and market pressures.
