OpenAI Weighs Delay of IPO as Tech Stock Volatility Rattles Advisers

OpenAI is considering delaying its initial public offering until 2027 due to recent volatility in tech stocks, Bloomberg reported Thursday (June 25), citing a paywalled article by The New York Times.

The artificial intelligence startup’s advisers have told it that this volatility could reduce retail investors’ enthusiasm for its IPO, according to the report.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pushing the firm’s advisers to seek a $1 trillion valuation for the company, per the report.

OpenAI announced June 8 that it had recently submitted a confidential S-1, a registration statement required for an IPO, to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The company said in its announcement: “We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”

Rival AI startup Anthropic said a week earlier, on June 1, that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the SEC about its IPO. Anthropic said in its announcement: “This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review. The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.”

OpenAI was valued at $852 billion in a March funding round in which it raised $122 billion. The company said at the time that it was generating $2 billion in revenue per month, up from $1 billion per quarter at the end of 2024.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday (June 23) that tech stocks, and particularly those of AI and chip companies, “fell hard” amid investor concerns about the cost of data centers and the uncertain future revenue prospects of AI.

CNBC reported Tuesday that tech stocks suffered “deep losses” and that the sector’s decline was driving a selloff of stocks around the world.

Reuters reported Tuesday that sharp losses in semiconductor stocks drove the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to more than one-week lows as investors questioned the growing amount of debt-funded spending on AI.

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