OpenAI May Push IPO to 2027 to Protect Its Valuation

OpenAI is leaning toward delaying its planned public offering from this fall to 2027, according to a New York Times report. The reported reason is the turbulence in the technology sector, including sharp recent declines in shares of SpaceX, the aerospace and AI company controlled by Elon Musk, which went public two weeks ago in the largest IPO in history.

At the start of the month, OpenAI filed a confidential draft prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO originally planned for the third or fourth quarter of 2026. Reports said the company was targeting a valuation of $1 trillion. A confidential filing lets companies keep financial details private while the SEC reviews the documents, and it also allows them to gauge investor demand, make changes, or even cancel the offering.

According to the report, the advisers OpenAI hired warned in the past week that a public listing would not be received enthusiastically enough in the current market. They said that if OpenAI wants a $1 trillion valuation, it would be better to wait until 2027, or else accept a lower valuation. Chief executive Sam Altman reportedly considers cutting the valuation a nonstarter.

OpenAI completed a $122 billion fundraising round in March 2026 led by Japan’s SoftBank, at a post-money valuation of $852 billion. In February, the company was valued at $730 billion. Rival Anthropic, which makes the Claude chatbot, is also preparing for an IPO and filed a confidential draft prospectus with the SEC in June. In May, Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation.