OpenAI Denies $1 Trillion IPO Rumors: "No Plans for an IPO at This Time"

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Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News.

OpenAI, the developer behind 'ChatGPT,' which has been making aggressive investments to secure global leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), has officially denied recent speculation about an initial public offering (IPO).

On November 5 (local time), Sarah Friar, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of OpenAI, stated at The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Tech Live Conference, "We currently have no plans for an IPO." She added, "We are working to ensure the company can continue to grow at its current scale. We do not want to be constrained by the shackles of an IPO."

At the end of last month, Reuters reported, citing sources, that OpenAI was preparing for a public listing targeting a valuation of up to 1 trillion dollars (1,441 trillion won), with the goal of going public in 2027. Recently, OpenAI developed a plan to restructure its corporate governance, converting its subsidiary-previously under the control of a nonprofit foundation-into a public benefit corporation (PBC) that can pursue both profit and public interest. In this process, the company was valued at 500 billion dollars.

There have been persistent forecasts that OpenAI would pursue a public listing. This is because developing and operating AI models requires astronomical computing power and electricity, leading to analysis that the company cannot be sustainable without raising capital through a stock market listing. The Financial Times (FT) reported this year that the total value of OpenAI's global computing resource contracts with companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Samsung Electronics amounts to 1.5 trillion dollars.

The WSJ also reported, citing analysis by Bernstein analyst Piros Valizadeh, that OpenAI recorded a loss of approximately 12 billion dollars over the three months from July to September. According to the first quarter results for fiscal year 2026 (July 1 to September 30, 2025) disclosed by Microsoft, OpenAI's largest investor, it is estimated that OpenAI recorded a loss of 12 billion dollars during this period. The WSJ noted, "This is one of the largest quarterly losses in the history of the IT industry," and added, "It is nearly equivalent to the 13 billion dollars in revenue that OpenAI projected for this year. The specific causes of the losses were not disclosed."

In this regard, CFO Friar expressed optimism that OpenAI could receive support from financial institutions and the government. She said she hopes the government will support OpenAI by guaranteeing the costs of procuring AI chips.

Friar further explained, "We are exploring ways to build an ecosystem involving the government, private financial institutions, and private equity funds (PEF)." She added that if the government provides guarantees, it would lower the cost of raising capital and increase the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. She also clarified, "We are not overly fixated on breaking even at this point," emphasizing that OpenAI's current losses are due to aggressive investment, not poor business performance.