Despite industry forecasts for a blockbuster resurgence in initial public offerings in the coming year, NYU Stern marketing professor and tech analyst Scott Galloway has issued a contrarian warning about the crown jewel of the AI boom. Speaking on a recent episode of Prof G Markets, Galloway suggested that OpenAI’s expected public listing, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, is far from a sure thing, citing eroding competitive advantages and a toxic shift in brand perception.
While discussing the potential for a record-breaking IPO market—headlined by rumored listings for SpaceX and OpenAI—Galloway offered a stark prediction regarding the ChatGPT creator. “I think OpenAI could get pulled,” Galloway stated, assigning a “nonzero probability” to the company withdrawing its IPO plans entirely. His skepticism stands in sharp contrast to reports that OpenAI is seeking additional funding at valuations as high as $830 billion.
According to Galloway, the primary threat to OpenAI’s public debut is a rapidly closing gap in the competitive landscape. He argues that OpenAI’s “sustainable advantage is really, really thin,” particularly when compared to deep-tech giants like SpaceX, which commands 80% to 90% of global launch capabilities. Galloway pointed to the surge in competitors, specifically noting that Google’s Gemini and various open-weight models are gaining significant traction. Furthermore, he observed that rival Anthropic is beating OpenAI in the enterprise sector by successfully branding itself as a safe, human-centric “partner” rather than an existential threat.
