OpenAI is about to file for an IPO confidentially: What it means for the AI ​​industry’s biggest listing

Core conclusion

OpenAI is accelerating towards the public markets. According to CNBC and WSJ reports, the AI ​​giant will secretly submit an S-1 listing application document to the U.S. SEC as early as this Friday (May 22). OpenAI, currently valued at about US$1 trillion, will start a "trillion IPO battle" with SpaceX, which submitted its S-1 in the same week, and Anthropic is also expected to follow suit.

Key Points

• Time of Event: No later than Friday, May 22, 2026 to file S-1
• Listed entity: OpenAI (development company of ChatGPT and GPT series models)
• Simultaneous IPO Players: SpaceX filed S-1 this week, Anthropic expected to follow
• Impact on users: Public financial reports will disclose OpenAI’s true income and losses for the first time

Background: The jump from laboratory to listed company

Over the past two years, OpenAI has undergone a rapid transformation from a non-profit research laboratory to a commercial giant. At the end of 2025, the company led by Sam Altman completed multiple rounds of financing, and its valuation once exceeded US$300 billion. However, the high cost of GPU computing power and R&D expenditures have also drawn attention to the company's cash burn rate.

It is worth noting that OpenAI’s CFO has previously stated internally that the company’s financial accounts “have not yet met strict public reporting standards” and was originally expected to be ready for listing until 2027. But in just a few weeks, things have changed dramatically - with signals of accelerated IPOs being sent to the market this week.

At the same time, Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI just ended in defeat (the jury found that the statute of limitations had expired), which also cleared a key legal obstacle for OpenAI to go public.

Key Impact (by Dimension)

Actual impact on AI money-making/automation track

1. API pricing may be under pressure

After going public, OpenAI faces pressure to report quarterly financial results. If Wall Street demands to see a path to profitability, API call prices could rise, or free credits shrink further. For automated workflows and content production pipelines that rely on OpenAI APIs, it’s wise to prepare alternatives ahead of time.

2. Open Source Alternatives Will Meet Opportunities

Open source models such as DeepSeek V4 can already compete with GPT-5 and Claude Opus 4.7 in terms of reasoning capabilities. If OpenAI raises prices due to go-to-market pressure, more developers and automation teams will turn to on-premises or third-party hosting solutions.

3. The capital market’s attitude towards AI will become a benchmark

OpenAI’s IPO performance will directly affect the financing and valuation logic of the entire AI industry. If it rises sharply on the first day, it will trigger more AI companies to line up to go public; if it lags behind, it may mark a turning point in the AI ​​investment boom.

Internal link guidance

• Want to learn how to replace paid APIs with open source models? See: DeepSeek V4 vs Claude Code: 90% Cheaper, Same Quality
• Real case: Someone earns over 10,000 yuan a month relying on AI automation system: He Built an AI Automation Stack with Claude + n8n — $4K to $12K/mo in 6 Months

Related extended information

• HN ：OpenAI IPO
• CNBC
• WSJ

Tool entry

The tools and technology stacks involved in this article: OpenAI, ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude, Anthropic, OpenClaw. If you are interested in one of these tools, you can directly search for relevant tutorials and cases on the site.