OpenAI Plans to Reserve IPO Shares for Retail Investors, Breaking with Silicon Valley Practice

OpenAI is seeking to balance heavy spending on computing capacity with fundraising in the capital markets. CEO Sam Altman has committed $600 billion to expanding computing infrastructure to support ChatGPT’s growth. But user and revenue figures have fallen short of targets, raising questions about whether an IPO can support the company’s long-term data-center bills.

Altman initially favored pursuing an IPO as early as the fourth quarter of 2026. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar warned that current revenue was insufficient to support computing commitments of up to $1 trillion and that the company could run out of cash in five years. The New York Times most recently reported that OpenAI was leaning toward delaying its listing until 2027, while Altman was demanding a valuation of at least $1 trillion.

OpenAI is at the center of the generative AI boom but remains privately held, preventing retail investors from buying its shares directly. Investors have instead sought indirect exposure through companies with stakes in or partnerships with OpenAI, including Microsoft, SoftBank, Nvidia and OpenAI shareholder Eightco, hoping to benefit from growth in corporate AI spending and model commercialization.

OpenAI was previously reported to be planning an IPO in the fourth quarter of 2026 at a target valuation of $1 trillion, with annualized revenue at the time exceeding $25 billion. Rival Anthropic's annualized revenue had reached $19 billion, an approximately tenfold increase from a year earlier. The latest reports, however, indicate that the listing plan may be put on hold and delayed until 2027.

Competition in generative AI and commercial spaceflight has driven up valuations of privately held technology companies. If OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX proceed with IPOs in succession, trillion-dollar companies would face their first test in public markets. Their listings could also redirect funds that investors have concentrated in large-cap technology stocks in the S&P 500.

Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee recently said the listings were expected to add trillions of dollars in stock supply, equivalent to 5%–6% of the S&P 500's total market capitalization. Although Bank of America has warned that an IPO boom could overheat technology stocks, Lee said investors were currently underallocated and the market could absorb the supply. He also expects U.S. stocks to have further room to rise in 2027.