OpenAI, the maker of the ChatGPT chatbot, is preparing to file confidentially for an initial public offering in the coming weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter said, laying the groundwork for one of the largest artificial intelligence company offerings that would heighten the stakes of the technology race.
OpenAI is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to prepare the paperwork, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions. OpenAI is closely watching the stock market, they added, and the timing of any filing remains in flux. If a filing comes soon, an I.P.O. could take place as soon as September.
“As part of normal governance, we regularly evaluate a range of strategic options,” a spokesman for OpenAI said in a statement. “Our focus remains on execution.”
OpenAI is one of the most highly anticipated potential public offering candidates this year, in what is set to be a lucrative string of tech company mega offerings. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company that has valued itself at more than $1 trillion, is on the runway to reach the stock market as early as next month. And Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s fiercest A.I. rivals, has also taken steps to go public.
OpenAI, which is based in San Francisco, is valued at $730 billion in the private market after its latest funding round earlier this year. On Monday, the company overcame a significant hurdle on the way to a possible I.P.O. when a federal judge and jury rejected a lawsuit from Mr. Musk that aimed to unravel the for-profit company that OpenAI created last year.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported on OpenAI’s I.P.O. plans.
This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.
Mike Isaac is The Times’s Silicon Valley correspondent, based in San Francisco. He covers the world’s most consequential tech companies, and how they shape culture both online and offline.
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