Why it matters. OpenAI is the most prominent AI company in the world, and its path to the public markets would give ordinary investors a stake in the technology reshaping the global economy — while setting a valuation benchmark for the entire sector.
Background. This article comes from Hankyoreh, a major South Korean daily. Korean media follow the AI race closely because the country's tech and chip industries — firms like Samsung and SK hynix — are deeply tied to the AI infrastructure boom these companies are funding. Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI staff, which is why their head-to-head listing race carries an added competitive edge.
What to watch next. Watch whether Anthropic's autumn listing target forces OpenAI to accelerate its own timeline, and how each company's valuation moves as the filings progress.
OpenAI moves toward Wall Street
OpenAI, the San Francisco company behind ChatGPT, said on Tuesday that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering that could value the firm at more than $1 trillion — a step that intensifies its rivalry with competitor Anthropic to be first among major AI developers to go public.
The company stressed that no timing has been set. “There are things we can still do more easily as a private company, so a listing may be some way off,” OpenAI said, signaling that the filing reserves the option rather than commits to a near-term debut. A confidential submission lets a company begin the SEC review process without immediately disclosing financial details to the public.
A crowded race to the public markets
OpenAI’s move lands amid a broader rush by large technology firms toward the markets. SpaceX, the rocket company led by Elon Musk, is preparing what would be the largest Nasdaq listing in history. Anthropic — the developer of the Claude family of AI models, and a firm founded by former OpenAI researchers — filed a draft registration last week, aiming to list this autumn.
Industry observers see the sequencing as high-stakes: whichever company lists first may capture an outsized share of the enormous capital now flowing into artificial intelligence. That urgency is sharpened by a notable shift in valuations. Anthropic was recently valued at roughly $900 billion — surpassing OpenAI for the first time — fueling internal concern at OpenAI that it could cede market leadership to its rival.
Still the consumer leader, but under pressure
OpenAI remains dominant in consumer chatbots, with about 900 million weekly active users worldwide. But it is facing a strong challenge from Anthropic in the business-to-business market, and reportedly fell short of some internal revenue targets late last year.
The IPO filing follows a period of aggressive fundraising. In March, OpenAI closed a $122 billion investment round — described as the largest in Silicon Valley history — at an $852 billion valuation, including $3 billion raised from individual investors. In February, the company told investors it plans to spend roughly $600 billion building AI infrastructure through 2030.
New ChatGPT features
Separately, OpenAI announced upgrades to ChatGPT on the same day. An enhanced “memory” feature tailors responses to a user’s writing style, preferences and ongoing projects, while a new “file library” makes it easier to locate previously uploaded or generated files. Both are currently available to Plus and Pro subscribers in the United States and are expected to expand to free-tier users and other countries within weeks.
