OpenAI, the maker of the ChatGPT chatbot, is preparing to file confidentially for an initial public offering in the coming weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter said, laying the groundwork for one of the largest artificial intelligence company offerings that would heighten the stakes of the technology race.
OpenAI is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to prepare the paperwork, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions. OpenAI is closely watching the stock market, they added, and the timing of any filing remains in flux. If a filing comes soon, an I.P.O. could take place as soon as September.
“As part of normal governance, we regularly evaluate a range of strategic options,” a spokesman for OpenAI said in a statement. “Our focus remains on execution.”
OpenAI is one of the most highly anticipated potential public offering candidates this year, in what is set to be a lucrative string of tech company offerings. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company, which has valued itself at more than $1 trillion, is on the runway to reach the stock market as early as next month. And Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s fiercest A.I. rivals, which is raising money at a $900 billion valuation, has also taken steps to go public.
OpenAI, which is based in San Francisco, was valued at $730 billion in the private market after a funding round this year, not including the latest investment.
An I.P.O. boom would probably unleash a flood of generational wealth, creating the world’s first trillionaires and cementing the riches of a set of Silicon Valley tech executives who are already billionaires. It would also bring a bonanza to A.I. company employees, as well as to Wall Street banks and others.