OpenAI May Delay IPO to 2027, Eyes $1T Valuation

What is OpenAI's current IPO plan?

OpenAI may delay its initial public offering until 2027, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing three people involved in the company's internal deliberations. The company had originally targeted a public debut as early as the third or fourth quarter of 2026. OpenAI has already submitted a confidential S-1 filing with the SEC, signaling it had formalized its IPO intentions.

Here's what we know so far: the delay is not confirmed, but advisers have presented CEO Sam Altman with two concrete options — wait until 2027 or accept a lower valuation for a faster 2026 listing.

What valuation is Sam Altman targeting?

Altman has pushed advisers to achieve a $1 trillion valuation for OpenAI at its public debut, according to Yahoo Finance reporting the New York Times story. That figure is a steep climb from OpenAI's last private funding round, which valued the company at between $730 billion and $852 billion. A source in direct contact with Altman told the Times he firmly rejected any compromise on the trillion-dollar figure.

What are OpenAI's current financials?

OpenAI's revenue has hit $2 billion per month, a historic milestone for the company. But audited financial documents recently revealed a net loss of $38.5 billion for last year. That loss was driven by $34 billion in spending on computing power, research and development, and structural corporate changes. Those figures have given Wall Street a sobering look at the gap between revenue growth and profitability.

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What two choices did advisers give Altman?

Advisers presented Altman with two options, per the Times report:

1. Wait until 2027 — allow the market to stabilize and let OpenAI's financials mature toward a $1 trillion valuation.
2. Accept a lower valuation — fast-track an IPO into public markets by late 2026.

Altman rejected the second option. Advisers also warned that retail enthusiasm may be limited given current market conditions.

How does the SpaceX IPO factor in?

SpaceX completed its IPO in June 2026, raising over $85 billion and debuting at a $1.77 trillion valuation. Many observers viewed that listing as a green light for OpenAI and rival Anthropic to pursue their own large-scale public offerings. However, SpaceX shares have since fallen to $153 from a peak of $202, exposing what the Yahoo Finance report called a "fickle market." That retreat, combined with broader tech sector volatility, has raised questions about whether AI companies can justify their infrastructure costs through commercial returns.

The SpaceX IPO milestone set a high bar for mega-scale tech listings — but its post-debut slide is now part of the calculus OpenAI's advisers are weighing.

Why did OpenAI clear a key legal hurdle?

The company cleared a significant obstacle when a restrictive lawsuit filed by Elon Musk was dismissed. That dismissal had been seen as a prerequisite for OpenAI to move forward with its IPO process. The S-1 filing followed that development.

What does this mean for the broader AI IPO pipeline?

OpenAI's potential delay puts pressure on the idea of a "trifecta" of trillion-dollar tech listings in 2026. The AI jobs and investment push has attracted enormous capital, but the OpenAI situation shows that even the highest-profile AI company is not immune to market timing concerns. Anthropic, another major AI lab, had also been discussed as a potential 2026 IPO candidate.

For builders and founders tracking OpenAI's agentic work and product trajectory, the IPO timeline matters because it shapes how the company raises and deploys capital going forward.

Key OpenAI IPO figures at a glance

The CNBC report on major bank stress tests published the same week underscores that financial markets are active and capital allocation decisions are being made at scale — context that OpenAI's advisers are clearly watching. Broader market conditions, including tech sector volatility flagged in the Bloomberg reporting on Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs shares, are directly tied to the IPO delay discussion.

The most confirmed next step: OpenAI has filed its confidential S-1 with the SEC, and a final decision on timing — 2026 or 2027 — has not yet been announced publicly.