DPA
1 min read
OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has become the latest US technology company to move towards a potential blockbuster stock market debut.
The company on Monday filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO), completing a trio of expected mega-listings by major technology firms.
As with rival Anthropic, details of the filing remain under wraps for now. OpenAI also stressed that a listing could still be some way off, saying there were business advantages to remaining privately held.
Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX is expected to make its stock market debut as early as Friday, seeking a valuation of almost $1.8 trillion from the start.
With expected proceeds of around $75 billion, it would be the largest IPO in history. The targeted valuation appears unusually high, given that SpaceX generated less than $19 billion in revenue last year and was loss-making. However, the company points to the promise of future growth.
Anthropic recently completed a funding round valuing it at $900 billion, while OpenAI was valued slightly lower in its most recent financing round.
The ChatGPT maker has ambitious plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in data centres, and proceeds from an IPO could help fund those plans.
But, as with other companies in the sector, there are significant doubts over whether the huge sums being poured into AI infrastructure can ultimately be recouped.
The expected AI listings are therefore also set to test investors’ appetite for backing the sector.
