OpenAI Upcoming IPO: Altman confirms no 2026 listing, citing AI safety concerns

OpenAI has confidentially filed for an IPO, as reported in June 2026, working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as underwriters.¹ The filing sets up a potential public debut as it races rival Anthropic (which also confidentially filed its S-1 just before OpenAI6) to an IPO. However, a 2026 listing is now off the table.

In September 2026, Altman confirmed in a Fortune interview that OpenAI will not go public in 2026, stating, "I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public."⁷ That safety-focused rationale — as several other AI leaders join calls to slow down development⁸ — adds a new dimension to earlier reporting from The New York Times, which indicated the potential delay was driven in part by Altman's push for an IPO valuation of at least $1 trillion. According to the Times, a suggested plan to go public sooner at a lower valuation was a "nonstarter."³

The prospective IPO would come on the heels of SpaceX, which completed the largest IPO ever in June 2026, raising $75 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation.⁹ However, SpaceX's stock has since declined, which reportedly contributed to OpenAI's shifting plans in June.³ Meanwhile, Anthropic is reportedly moving ahead with its plan, having chosen to list on Nasdaq for an IPO that could come as soon as October 2026 and value the company at $2 trillion, surpassing SpaceX's IPO mark.¹⁰

In addition to having mega valuations and AI in common, these companies' paths to the public market may overlap.

In OpenAI's case, a May 2026 win in a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk (SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Officer) helped clear the way for a potential IPO.¹¹ And the race against Anthropic to go public seemingly has a lot to do with trying to win over a larger share of investors,¹² amidst these companies' own significant investments in AI infrastructure.

Bringing more data center capacity online potentially means these companies can improve their models faster while feeding more customer demand. In Anthropic's case, it struck a deal in May 2026 to rent capacity from SpaceX¹³ while it also invests in other major infrastructure buildouts.¹⁴ Meanwhile, OpenAI has committed $1.4 trillion over seven to eight years for data center infrastructure deals, including through its Stargate project with partners like SoftBank and Oracle.¹⁵ OpenAI is also leasing data center capacity. In August 2026, Nvidia reportedly committed up to $105 billion to build one of the world's largest data centers in Ohio, with OpenAI expected to lease capacity from the facility.¹⁶

So, while there may be some friendly competition behind the scenes to win some press and prestige for IPOing first, there's a financial element at play, too.

Going public, however, comes with substantially greater disclosure requirements and scrutiny. For now, OpenAI does not have to disclose financial details nearly to the extent it would if it were public already. An IPO conducted before any company meets public market expectations may risk a lower valuation than it could achieve under more optimal conditions.

As such, even before recent safety concerns came to light, Altman reportedly told staff in May 2026 that an IPO filing is not the same as being IPO-ready and the company would wait until it's prepared to go public.¹⁷

Ultimately, the timing of any public offering remains uncertain. With the IPO delayed, OpenAI is reportedly thinking about conducting another primary funding round. Some reports suggest the round could value the company at $1.2 trillion.¹⁸ The New York Times, however, reported that OpenAI wants at least a $1.5 trillion valuation, due to what it sees as the value of its newest models and "increased customer traction" for Codex (its AI agent coding platform).⁵

Meanwhile, interested accredited investors may be able to invest in OpenAI stock pre-IPO through a private marketplace such as Forge, subject to availability and eligibility.

OpenAI: Company background

OpenAI began in 2015 in San Francisco as a nonprofit AI research lab, led by 11 cofounders, including Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Sam Altman and Wojciech Zaremba, among others.¹⁹

Musk has since left and been embroiled in legal battles with OpenAI, amidst OpenAI's evolving corporate structure.²⁰ While there's still a nonprofit arm that has a stake in the for-profit version of OpenAI, the change in structure is what has allowed the company to accelerate funding²¹ and set its sights on an IPO.²²

The company is best known for creating ChatGPT, which debuted in November 2022, helping to kick off the current AI era.²³

OpenAI IPO date and timeline

OpenAI filed its S-1 registration statement confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as the company confirmed in June 2026.¹ However, the company has not confirmed key details such as a listing date or valuation.

Reporting from The New York Times in June 2026 indicated that that Altman in particular is targeting a valuation for the company of at least $1 trillion. However, market conditions at that time reportedly gave insiders pause as to whether a $1 trillion valuation was achievable, so instead of going public in 2026 at potentially a smaller valuation, the company was instead leaning toward waiting until 2027.³

That potential 2026 timeline has since been ruled out. In an interview with Fortune in September 2026, Altman confirmed that OpenAI will not go public this year, citing AI safety concerns. "I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don't feel pressure on that," Altman said.⁷

Instead, OpenAI will go public "when the business is ready," according to Fortune.⁷ So, while an OpenAI IPO seems like it will not occur in 2026, there isn't much clarity when in 2027 (or later) OpenAI might go public.

For updates on OpenAI's IPO status, visit the OpenAI IPO page on Forge.

Commercializing AI

As OpenAI transitioned its corporate structure and released new ChatGPT models, it also has seen rapid commercialization and significantly contributed to a flurry of AI-related spending and investments.²⁴

From 2023 to 2025, OpenAI's compute approximately tripled each year from 0.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2023 to around 1.9 GW in 2025. Meanwhile, revenue grew at approximately the same pace, from $2 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2023 to over $20 billion in 2025.²⁵

In August 2026, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI's annualized revenue is on track to surpass $40 billion, approximately doubling its 2025 revenue.²⁶ However, rival Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, has reportedly hit an annualized revenue run rate of $65 billion as of the end of July 2026.²⁷ Anthropic also reportedly told investors it would be profitable for the second consecutive quarter, the Financial Times reported in September.²⁸

Long term, there's potential for significantly more revenue from areas like advertising within ChatGPT, as well as other enterprise AI tools like Codex, a coding agent.²⁹ At the end of August 2026, OpenAI reported a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate for ChatGPT ads.³⁰

Longer term, OpenAI projects over $280 billion in revenue by 2030, though it remains to be seen whether that type of lofty figure is realistic.³¹

OpenAI stock price history

OpenAI's Forge Price is $721.85 at an $894.33 billion valuation as of September 21, 2026.⁴ That's up about 5% from an $852 billion Series C valuation in March 2026, its most recent primary funding round.⁴ More dramatically, OpenAI's early 2024 Forge Price was $150 at an $87 billion valuation, meaning the current valuation has increased more than tenfold.⁴

Forge Data as of 09/23/2026

Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.

OpenAI funding history and private market valuation

Forge Data as of 09/23/2026

OpenAI's funding history reflects its rise from research nonprofit to one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Its first primary funding round came in July 2019, when it raised $193.83 million at a $1.94 billion valuation, with investors such as Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management and Andreessen Horowitz participating.³²

After ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, the pace and scale of funding accelerated. In April 2023, OpenAI raised $150 million at a $28 billion valuation. A year and a half later, in October 2024, OpenAI raised $13.33 billion at a $157 billion valuation, with repeat investors including Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, K2 Global and Founders Fund.³²

Just a few months later, in March 2025, OpenAI nearly doubled its valuation to $300 billion, raising $41 billion, which included investors like Fidelity, Nvidia, Tiger Global Management and SoftBank. In October 2025, a tender offer took its valuation to $500 billion, and the company also raised another $1 billion in December 2025 at a $500 billion valuation.³²

OpenAI's most recent primary funding round came in March 2026, when it raised $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation. The round included a wide range of investors such as Amazon, D. E. Shaw Ventures, Nvidia, SoftBank and T. Rowe Price.³²

In August 2026, OpenAI also reportedly completed another tender offer, connected to this March funding round, totaling around $7 billion in secondary share sales from current and former employees at the same $852 billion valuation.³³

With its IPO delayed, OpenAI is also reportedly eyeing another primary funding round at around $1.5 trillion, which would nearly double its last primary round valuation.⁵

How to invest in OpenAI pre-IPO

OpenAI remains a private company for now, and as such, its shares are not available to trade via traditional brokerages.

Instead, accredited investors may be able to access shares of some pre-IPO companies like OpenAI through secondary market transactions on private marketplaces like Forge, through which existing shareholders such as employees or early investors may sell their holdings. An accredited investor is a person or entity that meets income or net-worth thresholds, or professional criteria, as set by the SEC.³⁴

However, private market access can come with constraints. Share availability is not guaranteed, and companies often impose transfer restrictions, including a Right of First Refusal (ROFR) that lets the company or existing investors buy shares before an outside buyer can when an existing shareholder tries to sell. Private company shares are also typically illiquid, especially compared to public market securities, and valuations can be uncertain.

To learn more about pre-IPO opportunities, explore our buyer's guide to investing in private market shares or our comprehensive pre-IPO investing guide. Eligible investors can also create a free account on Forge to explore available private market investment opportunities.

Looking ahead

With Altman having ruled out a 2026 IPO,⁷ investors will be watching for key milestones in 2027 and beyond, such as a potential public S-1 filing, roadshow announcements and official pricing details. A new potential primary funding round could also be a signal, as could developments such Anthropic possibly moving forward with an IPO in 2026. Still, OpenAI's IPO timing and valuation remain subject to a broad range of factors such as market conditions, the company's progress on safety and alignment work, and its internal readiness.¹⁷

That said, IPO timelines and plans can change quickly. Check back here or take a look at Forge's upcoming IPO calendar to stay in the loop about a potential OpenAI IPO and other pending public offerings.

To start exploring pre-IPO opportunities, accredited investors may create an account with Forge. After creating a free account, eligible investors may have the opportunity to buy and sell shares of private companies, including OpenAI, subject to availability.