OpenAI may not hit public markets until 2027 or later, according to people familiar with the company's thinking.
The company has been weighing the timing of an IPO as it continues to grow revenue and expand its product lineup. Rather than rushing toward a listing, OpenAI is signaling it would rather wait for conditions it deems more favorable. The delay suggests internal confidence that private funding can sustain operations without the scrutiny or structural obligations that come with being a public company.
The calculus matters because OpenAI is arguably the most-watched private company in tech right now. Pushing the IPO out buys time to shore up profitability narratives, but it also means retail investors stay locked out of one of the defining companies of the current AI wave while insiders and late-stage funds hold the upside.
For context, OpenAI's last private fundraise valued the company at $300 billion — a twelve-figure figure that would make any eventual public offering one of the largest in recent memory. The longer the wait, the higher the bar the market will set for day-one performance.