OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT and on which Nigerian billionaire Adebayo Ogunlesi serves as a director, is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering that could value the company at up to $1 trillion—potentially one of the largest IPOs in history.
OpenAI could go public by late 2026
According to a report by Reuters citing three people familiar with the matter, OpenAI is exploring regulatory filings as early as the second half of 2026. The company in preliminary talks has considered raising about $60 billion. While there is no guarantee the plan will move forward in that form, the discussions mark a clear step toward going public.
The people said that Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has briefed some partners that a 2027 listing is the target, though other advisers believe it could come as early as late 2026. At the same time, they caution that both the size and timing are not yet set and will depend on business performance and market readiness.
OpenAI plans IPO to fund expansion
OpenAI expects an annualized revenue run-rate approaching $20 billion by year-end, but it is still operating at a loss and burning cash as it scales. The company began as a nonprofit in 2015, and later reworked its structure so that a nonprofit parent would oversee a for-profit arm. That repositioning is seen as paving the way for a public offering.
The IPO signals a sense of urgency at OpenAI now that the structural overhaul is largely in place. Going public would allow the firm to raise capital more efficiently and use public stock as a tool for major acquisitions, supporting plans to invest heavily in AI infrastructure and growth.
Ogunlesi’s OpenAI spurs $11.9 billion expansion
Since Nigerian billionaire Adebayo Ogunlesi’s appointment to the board in January, OpenAI has intensified its expansion. It has raised tens of billions of dollars, acquired startups and committed large sums to computing power. It agreed earlier this year to purchase $11.9 billion of cloud-computing services from CoreWeave in a five-year deal.
It has also struck major computing arrangements with other cloud players. Earlier this month, OpenAI selected the University of Lagos as the site of its first African AI academy—a move underscoring its ambition to build physical presence across Africa and other continents.
OpenAI buys Statsig in $1.1 billion deal
In September, OpenAI announced it would acquire Statsig, a startup focused on real-time experimentation and analytics, in an all-stock deal valued at $1.1 billion. That purchase is expected to bring new features to ChatGPT and extend the company’s reach into enterprise applications globally.
Earlier this year, OpenAI raised $40 billion, lifting its valuation to about $300 billion. The funds are earmarked for research, computing infrastructure, and product development—part of its drive toward developing artificial general-intelligence capable of human-level work.
