OpenAI is now leaning toward delaying its public debut from later this year to next year, unnamed sources told The New York Times, as Elon Musk’s SpaceX stock tumbles after its record IPO and the public tech market slumps more broadly.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 3: CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman talks to reporters following a meeting with Senator Bernie Sanders at the Dirksen Senate Office building in Washington, DC on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
OpenAI hired bankers and lawyers eyeing an initial public offering as early as the third or fourth quarter of this year, with CEO Sam Altman pushing them to engineer a $1 trillion valuation, the Times reported, citing three people involved in the talks.
Over the past week, OpenAI’s advisers have cautioned the company that a public listing may not be met with enough enthusiasm due to the volatile public tech market, per the report.
When advisers offered a choice between waiting until 2027 for a $1 trillion debut or accepting a lower valuation for a faster one, Altman called any cut to the trillion-dollar figure a "nonstarter," one person in contact with him told the Times.
