OpenAI has confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, joining SpaceX and Anthropic in a historic race to take the world’s most valuable AI companies public in 2026. The filing occurred on May 22, according to multiple sources, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley serving as lead underwriters.
The ChatGPT maker is targeting a public debut as soon as September 2026, with a valuation range between $730 billion and $850 billion, according to AI Weekly. This represents a significant step forward for a company that closed a March 2026 funding round at $852 billion, making it one of the most valuable private firms in the world.
OpenAI’s move comes just days after rival Anthropic filed its own confidential IPO paperwork on June 1, 2026, following a $65 billion funding round that valued the Claude-maker at $965 billion. The timing has thrust Anthropic temporarily ahead of OpenAI in valuation, setting the stage for an intense competition to reach the public markets first. Both companies are working with top-tier investment banks to navigate the confidential filing process, which allows draft registration statements to be submitted to the SEC for nonpublic review before a formal public filing.
The race extends beyond these two AI giants. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, is scheduled to go public on June 12, 2026, at $135 per share on Nasdaq, according to information from the internal links pool. Industry observers have noted that 2026 could become the biggest year for U.S. IPOs in history, with these three mega-valuations potentially reshaping the public markets.
The confidential filing process, expanded by the SEC in March 2025, gives companies like OpenAI flexibility in their path to going public. Rather than immediately disclosing their draft prospectus to the public, the companies can work with regulators privately before deciding on a final public filing timeline. This approach has become increasingly popular among high-profile tech startups seeking to minimize market volatility during the registration process.
The competitive dynamic between OpenAI and Anthropic reflects the intense race for dominance in generative AI. Anthropic has grown rapidly, with its annualized run-rate estimated at roughly $44 billion as of May 2026, while OpenAI continues to expand its user base through ChatGPT and enterprise offerings. Both companies face the challenge of justifying their extraordinary valuations to public market investors, particularly given their current operating losses and the substantial capital requirements for training advanced AI models.
Sources
- CNBC — confirmed OpenAI’s May 20 announcement of confidential IPO filing plans with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley
- AI Weekly — reported OpenAI’s September 2026 target debut with $730B-$850B valuation range
- Investing.com — documented OpenAI’s March 2026 funding round at $852 billion valuation
- Fortune — confirmed Anthropic’s June 1, 2026 confidential IPO filing at $965 billion valuation
- Bloomberg — reported Anthropic’s $65 billion Series H funding round and resulting valuation
- The Week — covered the three-way AI IPO race between SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic
- WSJ — analyzed the competitive dynamics of the AI company IPO sprint
