OpenAI Files a Secret IPO, Valuations of ChatGPT Could Reach US$850 Billion

JAKARTA - OpenAI is starting to pave the way to the United States stock exchange. The creator of ChatGPT has filed confidential IPO documents and is expected to record a valuation of more than US$850 billion.

As reported by The Guardian, quoted Tuesday, June 9, OpenAI announced the filing via the company's blog post on Monday. If realized, OpenAI's debut on Wall Street has the potential to be one of the largest stock listings in market history.

"We recently filed a confidential S-1. We anticipated it would leak, so we're announcing it," OpenAI wrote.

S-1 is an initial document submitted by a company to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prior to a public offering of shares or IPO. Through a confidential filing, regulators can first review the company's financial statements before opening them to investors and the public.

OpenAI has not set a schedule for an IPO. The company said there were still a number of things that were easier to do when its status was still private. However, this filing gives OpenAI room to go public faster if it is judged to be the best option.

OpenAI's move comes as the capital market prepares to welcome a series of AI companies. Anthropic, the creator of the chatbot Claude, has also announced plans to go public on the US stock exchange. Elon Musk's SpaceX, which owns the AI company xAI, is also said to be listed with an estimated valuation of US$1.75 trillion.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a non-profit research laboratory under the leadership of Sam Altman. Its name skyrocketed after ChatGPT was released to the public in 2022. The chatbot gained hundreds of millions of users and sparked a new wave of AI competition in the technology sector.

According to The Wall Street Journal, as quoted by The Guardian, OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding in March, with a valuation of around $852 billion. The large value came when the company was still facing the challenge of making a profit and meeting revenue and new user targets.

OpenAI has also not found another product with as much impact as ChatGPT. The company had expanded its move into hardware by acquiring iPhone designer Jony Ive's startup. OpenAI also launched the Sora video app and partnered with Disney, but the app was shut down in April 2026.

On the legal side, OpenAI has just won a lawsuit by Elon Musk regarding the change from a non-profit to a for-profit company. However, the company is still facing more than a dozen other lawsuits accusing ChatGPT of exacerbating the mental health crisis and encouraging violent acts.

Despite facing legal pressure and investor scrutiny, OpenAI has forged major partnerships with Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, and the Trump administration.

This IPO filing is an important step for OpenAI to prepare access to the capital market, amid the need for large funds to build artificial intelligence infrastructure and businesses.