ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has been working with bankers to prepare to file for an initial public offering in the coming days or weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bankers at firms including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been helping the artificial-intelligence giant on a draft IPO prospectus it plans to file confidentially with regulators soon, possibly as early as Friday, some of the people said.
The goal is for OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, to be ready to go public as early as September, some of the people said. The plans remain fluid and could still change, they cautioned.
The company cleared a major roadblock to its IPO earlier this week, when it won a legal fight with its co-founder turned Altman foe Elon Musk. Musk, whose rocket-maker SpaceX is expected to unveil IPO paperwork Wednesday ahead of a potential June offering, has said he plans to appeal the verdict.
OpenAI will have to overcome a host of other challenges, namely concerns about whether the company will be able to generate enough revenue to support its giant data-center spending commitments.
OpenAI’s lead in the AI race has recently come under threat from Claude-maker Anthropic, which has grown faster than its rival in recent months thanks to the fast adoption of its software tools across the workforce. OpenAI is in the middle of a major strategy pivot to try to catch up.
Altman has been eager to do an IPO, while the company’s CFO Sarah Friar has told company leaders it may need more time, The Wall Street Journal has reported. OpenAI was valued at $852 billion in a recent funding round.
OpenAI recently missed multiple internal revenue and user targets after facing competition from rivals Google and Anthropic.
The year could end up as the biggest year ever for IPOs in terms of total money raised, if all goes according to plan. In addition to SpaceX and OpenAI, Anthropic is also exploring what would be a massive public debut, while listing activity has also picked up for smaller companies.
The leaders of the three companies are all intertwined, and their rivalries and conflicts have come into full view ahead of the potential public listings.
OpenAI launched more than a decade ago as a nonprofit research lab seeking to build artificial-intelligence solutions that would benefit humanity, an origin story that was recently rehashed in a landmark federal trial brought by Musk.
In the years that followed, company leaders—which included Altman; Musk, who donated tens of millions of dollars of crucial early funding; and Dario Amodei, now Anthropic’s CEO—moved to create a for-profit entity that would allow them to raise money.
They recognized that massive computing firepower would be needed to build and maintain frontier AI models and that potentially billions of dollars in fundraising would be necessary to move AI technology forward.
In the trial, Musk alleged that OpenAI had “stolen a charity” by converting into a for-profit company. OpenAI said Musk supported the conversion and only fell out with Altman and others after it was clear he wouldn’t be able to maintain full control. A jury sided with OpenAI on technical grounds and the judge dismissed Musk’s claims.
Musk’s rivalry with Altman has only grown in the past year and he has repeatedly criticized the company, sued its leaders and partners and has even recently struck a deal allowing Anthropic to use computing power at the data center Musk built in Tennessee.
OpenAI has fought through a host of challenges, renegotiating its partnership with Microsoft, converting its structure to enable an IPO and winning the legal fight with Musk ahead of its IPO.
Investors have continued to question OpenAI’s finances and those of its partners as Altman has announced deals with partners across the tech landscape, some of which haven’t materialized as originally planned. However, OpenAI has managed to land enough computing to enable tremendous growth and to continue in a ferocious contest with Anthropic and others for supremacy.
Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com, AnnaMaria Andriotis at annamaria.andriotis@wsj.com and Berber Jin at berber.jin@wsj.com
","readTimeMin":3,"provider":{"id":"AAynGx","name":"The Wall Street Journal","companyLegalName":"Dow Jones & Company, Inc.","logo":{"id":"AA1V258b","width":400,"height":400,"url":"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V258b.img","title":"","source":"msn"},"lightScalableVectorLogo":{"width":142,"height":12,"url":"https://cdn.query.prod.cms.msn.com/cms/api/amp/binary/AA13gD5m","title":"","source":"msn"},"darkScalableVectorLogo":{"width":142,"height":12,"url":"https://cdn.query.prod.cms.msn.com/cms/api/amp/binary/AA13gD5m-dark","title":"","source":"msn"},"subscriptionUrl":"","isPremium":true,"url":"http://online.wsj.com/","profileId":"vid-y572a3ryyddhuiujs0xe2j4m4b6c3n2fp5hnux4jpsdand8h09ys","comScoreStackedTags":{"ca1":"1","ca3":"13047035","ca2":"6035148","ca4":"MSNWSJ","ca6":"*null"},"fullSizeLogoPrimaryColor":"","fullSizeLogoSecondaryColor":"","lightSquareLogo":{"id":"AA1V1LDs","width":400,"height":400,"url":"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V1LDs.img","title":"","source":"msn"},"darkSquareLogo":{"id":"AA1V1SN1","width":400,"height":400,"url":"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V1SN1.img","title":"","source":"msn"},"lightFullLogo":{"id":"AA1V1Qpn","width":1366,"height":400,"url":"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V1Qpn.img","title":"","source":"msn"},"darkFullLogo":{"id":"AA1V1Qpo","width":1367,"height":396,"url":"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V1Qpo.img","title":"","source":"msn"}},"socialEmbeds":[],"seo":{"canonicalUrl":"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-ipo-filing-date-0ec95af5?mod=RSSMSN","canonicalAuthority":"provider","sharingAuthority":0,"disallowIndexing":false,"excludeFromSiteMap":false,"keywords":[]},"tags":[{"label":"Fortune 500","weight":0.935437023639679,"feedId":"Y_66aab8cd-65a4-477c-b208-d18459ad42e4","locale":"en-us"},{"label":"Business","weight":0.935437023639679,"feedId":"Y_367b7be1-6bd2-44e7-95b3-b0d077ccc28d","locale":"en-us"},{"label":"Money","weight":0.935437023639679,"feedId":"Y_f714b6e2-e9db-41d0-9b5f-b2e0a52f85da","locale":"en-us"},{"label":"Technology","weight":0.6470861434936523,"feedId":"Y_d1cad308-780e-4a75-ba34-6460811ccfe3","locale":"en-us"},{"label":"News","weight":0.6470861434936523,"feedId":"Y_9eb0ac10-32bc-43cf-816e-5beaaf524f7a","locale":"en-us"}],"facets":[{"key":"displayAds","values":["1"]}],"keywords":[],"contentQuality":{"result":2},"satoriTags":[{"label":"wf_topic_business","weight":90.0,"feedId":"5d5524a3-1f4e-4d0f-8242-b7daadefcad1"},{"label":"wf_topic_company","weight":55.0,"feedId":"5d52a444-ece8-44b6-9a41-8a45e4444d64"},{"label":"Stock","weight":6.0,"feedId":"458fb3ec-80f7-2a40-2f5e-ea0bf47fe7f6"},{"label":"OpenAI","weight":1.0,"feedId":"9b131545-38a3-0bb6-c48a-345435a9a0a6"},{"label":"Initial public offering","weight":0.40381101460218627,"feedId":"f128420b-7ecc-a0d6-5205-f78b96b9644b"},{"label":"Morgan Stanley","weight":0.22870453228223966,"feedId":"d723f831-d7a8-cbb0-451f-eecb275a56b2"},{"label":"Goldman Sachs","weight":0.22228731658537534,"feedId":"9cec1ad2-91b5-1585-e8b3-935fcd91d29e"},{"label":"Sam Altman","weight":0.1854825419464005,"feedId":"7f1a7e64-5f83-eb8c-5d7e-ba38363babb0"},{"label":"Elon Musk","weight":0.14106958100865571,"feedId":"ce6414c0-f9f0-b48b-31f9-42a7dab4db59"},{"label":"Anthropic principle","weight":0.06666666666666667,"feedId":"3be2211c-0c62-01b8-61f7-7e1064651b93"},{"label":"Anthropic","weight":0.06666666666666667,"feedId":"603f1d55-89f5-c8e9-277b-6874a4818a9c"},{"label":"Artificial intelligence","weight":0.04461590440863831,"feedId":"9d99fb44-edac-0e03-1579-19d8d8591a49"},{"label":"SpaceX","weight":0.03197173862145829,"feedId":"627fa43a-d963-2c69-46ae-de521d27f9b9"},{"label":"Data center","weight":0.020574082276324828,"feedId":"8a8f679b-6060-afa3-21cb-5f6bfd782f95"}],"sourceId":"WP-WSJ-0003595049","feedId":"AA1vykdo","hasHeroImage":false,"subscriptionProductType":0,"intAttributes":{"hasSyndicationRights":1,"isBreaking":0,"isEmbedOnly":0,"renderingRestriction":0,"isExclusive":0,"isNoteworthy":0,"isVisible":0,"softDemotion":0,"galleryCount":0,"isProviderSubscribable":0,"hasHeroImage":0,"isContentFresh":0,"subscriptionProductType":0,"providerFlagAiExperiments":0,"videoYtChannelSubscriberCount":6610000,"videoTubularCreatorFollowCount":6610000,"newsClusterV6Hash":-1188371506,"newsClusterV7Hash":-2095111066,"newsClusterV8Hash":-1272610886,"fusionTrendingScore":7304284},"displayAttributes":{"disableDefaultCopilotButtons":true},"stringSignals":{"feedId":"AA1vykdo","label":"finance-companies","product":"finance"},"stringAttributes":{"providerTags":"","providerSummary":"{\"id\":\"AAynGx\",\"name\":\"The Wall Street Journal\",\"adNetworkId\":\"188286\",\"logo\":{\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"url\":\"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V258b.img\",\"source\":\"msn\"},\"mainLogo\":{\"id\":\"AA1V258b\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"url\":\"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V258b.img\",\"title\":\"\",\"source\":\"msn\"},\"lightScalableVectorLogo\":{\"width\":142,\"height\":12,\"url\":\"https://cdn.query.prod.cms.msn.com/cms/api/amp/binary/AA13gD5m\",\"title\":\"\",\"source\":\"msn\"},\"darkScalableVectorLogo\":{\"width\":142,\"height\":12,\"url\":\"https://cdn.query.prod.cms.msn.com/cms/api/amp/binary/AA13gD5m-dark\",\"title\":\"\",\"source\":\"msn\"},\"subscribable\":false,\"profileId\":\"vid-y572a3ryyddhuiujs0xe2j4m4b6c3n2fp5hnux4jpsdand8h09ys\",\"url\":\"http://online.wsj.com/\",\"largeFaviconUrl\":\"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V1LDq.img\",\"flags\":{\"infinite_feed\":true,\"noarchive\":true,\"related_video\":true,\"interactive_ai_experiences\":false,\"copilot_daily\":false,\"ai_experiences\":false,\"ai_experiments\":false,\"commenting\":true}}","subType":"","variation":"","headlineAlternatives":"{\"originalHeadline\":{\"title\":\"OpenAI Is Preparing to File for an IPO Very Soon\",\"isValid\":true},\"gptvcdTitleQuality\":{\"title\":\"OpenAI is preparing to file for an IPO very soon\",\"isValid\":true}}","bingThumbnailWebP":"https://th.bing.com/th?id=OMSN.AA23Ffwz.webp&pid=Wdpv2","bingThumbnailWebPWithROI":"https://th.bing.com/th?id=OMSN.AA23Ffwz.webp&roil=0.109375&roit=0&roir=0.77265626&roib=1&pid=Wdpv2","tH_AR_1_91":"https://th.bing.com/th?id=OMSN.AA23Ffwz.webp-2C&pid=Wdpv2","tH_AR_1_59":"https://th.bing.com/th?id=OMSN.AA23Ffwz.webp-Gem&pid=Wdpv2","vertical_tera":"finance","subvertical_tera":"general","terav4_t1_business_&_finance":"business_&_finance","terav4_t1_technology":"technology","terav4_t2_technology>artificial_intelligence":"technology>artificial_intelligence","terav4_t2_technology>tech_companies":"technology>tech_companies","terav4_t3_technology>tech_companies>openai":"technology>tech_companies>openai","cstarter_ld_latest00":"Who are the main investors in OpenAI?","cstarter_ld_latest01":"What are the expected benefits of OpenAI's IPO?","cstarter_ld_latest02":"What is the typical process for a tech IPO?","cstarter_ld_latest03":"How might OpenAI's IPO affect the tech industry?","cstarter_ld_latest04":"How does OpenAI's valuation compare to other startups?","cstarter_ld_latest05":"When will OpenAI officially file for its IPO?","key_takeaways_latest":"**OpenAI IPO Plans Accelerate** \n\n🚀 **IPO Preparation**: OpenAI is working with **Goldman Sachs** and **Morgan Stanley** to file a **draft IPO prospectus**, potentially as early as this week, aiming for a **September public debut**. \n\n⚖️ **Legal Clearance**: The company recently won a **legal battle with Elon Musk**, removing a major obstacle to its IPO, though Musk may still appeal. \n\n📊 **Market Challenges**: OpenAI faces questions about **revenue generation** to support its massive **data-center spending**, while competitors like **Anthropic** are growing rapidly.","key_takeaways_short":"**OpenAI Prepares for IPO Amid Challenges** \n\n🚀 **IPO Plans**: OpenAI, led by **Sam Altman**, is working with **Goldman Sachs** and **Morgan Stanley** to file a confidential **IPO prospectus**, potentially going public as early as **September**. \n\n⚖️ **Legal Victory**: The company cleared a key hurdle by winning a legal dispute with co-founder **Elon Musk**, who plans to appeal the verdict. \n\n📊 **Business Challenges**: OpenAI faces concerns about generating enough **revenue** to support its massive **data-center spending**, while competitors like **Anthropic** are growing rapidly.","url_tera":"https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/openai-is-preparing-to-file-for-an-ipo-very-soon/ar-AA23F0Pt"},"numberDictionaryMap":{},"id":"AA23F0Pt","name":"","source":"msn","type":"article","version":"11","createdBy":"micropublish","createdDateTime":"2026-05-20T16:35:38Z","updatedDateTime":"2026-05-20T17:52:33Z","publishedDateTime":"2026-05-20T17:43:00Z","locale":"en-us","categories":[{"product":"finance","label":"finance-companies","source":"SelectionMLModel","score":0.9427356123924255,"locale":"en-us"}],"jsonDataMap":{"displayType":"Card","displayValue":"{\"Type\":\"Card\",\"TypeExp\":null,\"Segment\":\"Blog\",\"Topic\":\"UnknownTopic\",\"InferredTopics\":[],\"ItemId\":\"AA23F0Pt\",\"Title\":\"OpenAI is preparing to file for an IPO very soon\",\"ImageUrl\":\"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA23Ffwz.img\",\"BingImageUrl\":\"\",\"HostIconUrl\":\"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1V258b.img\",\"ImageProviderType\":null,\"ImageProviderName\":null,\"ArticleProviderType\":null,\"ArticleProviderName\":\"The Wall Street Journal\",\"Url\":\"https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/openai-is-preparing-to-file-for-an-ipo-very-soon/ar-AA23F0Pt\",\"Snippet\":\"The artificial-intelligence giant is working with bankers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.\",\"CreatedOn\":\"2026-05-20T17:43:00Z\",\"CreatedOnUTC\":null,\"ExpirationDate\":\"\",\"ImageHeight\":852,\"ImageWidth\":1280,\"FocalRegion\":{\"X1\":385,\"X2\":590,\"Y1\":190,\"Y2\":395},\"ImageUrlVNext\":\"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA23Ffwz.img\",\"ImageHeightVNext\":0,\"ImageWidthVNext\":0,\"TypeVNext\":\"Card\",\"Market\":null,\"ImageCarousel\":[],\"ImageCarouselVNext\":[],\"ImageEncodingFormat\":null,\"ImageGoBigSignal\":null,\"Video\":null}","isLocalNews":"0","financeMetadata":"eyJTdG9ja3MiOlt7IlN0b2NrSWQiOiJhMXh5amMiLCJTY29yZSI6NjAwMDAxMDB9LHsiU3RvY2tJZCI6ImExdTd4bSIsIlNjb3JlIjo2MDAwMDEwMH1dLCJTZW50aW1lbnRSYXRpbmdzIjpbeyJUb3BpYyI6IndmX3NlbnRpbWVudF9wb3NpdGl2ZSIsIlNjb3JlIjo5ODc1fSx7IlRvcGljIjoid2Zfc2VudGltZW50X25lZ2F0aXZlIiwiU2NvcmUiOjUyfSx7IlRvcGljIjoid2Zfc2VudGltZW50X25ldXRyYWwiLCJTY29yZSI6NzF9XSwiQ2F0ZWdvcmllcyI6W3siVG9waWMiOiJjb21wYW5pZXMiLCJTY29yZSI6MTAwMDB9XX0=","numberMap":"{}"},"scoredCategories":{"intlv3_artificial_intelligence":701,"intlv3_goldman_sachs":621,"intlv3_investment_banking":337,"intlv3_finance":180,"intlv3_financial_technology":159,"intlv3_machine_learning":132,"intlv3_morgan_stanley":100,"intlv3_artificial_general_intelligence":82,"intlv3_trading":77,"intlv3_initial_public_offerings":74,"intlv3tier1_business":885,"intlv3tier1_technology":318,"intlv3tier1_news":11,"intlv3tier2_company-news":476,"intlv3tier2_markets":357,"intlv3tier2_finance-news":271,"intlv3tier2_finance-technology":116,"intlv3tier2_finance-video":62,"intlv3tier2_technology-news":45,"intlv3tier2_fund-screener":37,"intlv3tier2_stocks":31,"intlv3tier2_investing":30,"intlv3tier2_business-news":28,"terav2_artificial_intelligence":994,"terav2_investing___company_news":985,"terav2_business":982,"terav2_investing":967,"terav2_investing_news":964,"terav2_investing___business_news":971,"terav2_elon_musk":970,"terav2_technology":960,"terav2_investors":930,"terav2_technology_industry":937,"terav2_money":870,"terav2_technology_companies":886,"terav2_investing___technology":837,"terav2_commerce":894,"terav2_machine_learning":869,"terav2_innovation":762,"terav2_investing___market_news":784,"terav2_banking":814,"terav2_finance_news":745,"terav2_tech_companies":616,"terav2_initial_public_offerings":612,"terav2_financial_markets":850,"terav2_cryptocurrency":622,"terav2_startups_and_entrepreneurship":615,"terav2_startups":591,"terav2_entrepreneurship":740,"terav2_technology_trends":553,"terav2_video_game_industry":559,"terav2_future_of_cryptocurrencies":550,"terav2_robotics":540,"terat1_technology":984,"terat1_business_&_finance":979,"terat2_artificial_intelligence":989,"terat2_technology_industry":965,"terat2_tech_companies":922,"terat2_economics":763,"terat2_business_banking_&_finance":799,"terat2_stocks":689,"terat2_marketing_and_advertising":564,"terat2_cryptocurrencies":559,"terat2_banking_industry":558,"terat3_generative_ai":916,"terat3_machine_learning":857,"terat3_elon_musk":879,"terat3_blockchain_platforms":531,"terat3_chatgpt":504,"terat3_fx_a1u3p2":758,"terav2_news":985,"terav2_business_&_finance":658,"terav2_mining":645,"terav2_engineering":553,"terav2_data_science_and_analytics":537,"terat2_tech_leaders":607,"terat2_ai_literacy":509,"terat3_crypto_trading_platforms":580},"_t":"ContentView","colorSamples":[{"isDarkMode":true,"hexColor":"#2B3C59","isGreyScale":false},{"isDarkMode":false,"hexColor":"#F1F6FF","isGreyScale":false}]}