OpenAI’s Brockman says company ready to go public in 2027

OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on Wednesday, November 4, that most of the company's revenue now comes from enterprise sales, and that he believes OpenAI will be ready to go public in 2027. Asked on stage whether the ChatGPT maker would be ready for an IPO next year, he answered, "I think so," Reuters reported.reuters.com

He spoke at The Wall Street Journal's tech conference in Napa, California. The comments come as rival Anthropic moves toward what could be the largest stock market debut ever, and as OpenAI tries to raise private money before that listing happens.

Enterprise push against Anthropic

Brockman said OpenAI has been selling more to businesses to compete with Anthropic, and that its Codex agent is part of that effort, according to the Economic Times, which carried the Reuters report. In the Journal's session, he also talked about the infrastructure and funding needed for next-generation AI, how ChatGPT's business has changed, and safety risks.economictimes.indiatimes.com+1

Anthropic filed its IPO prospectus on October 26. It plans to list on the Nasdaq ↗ 2.55% under the ticker "ANT" and could go public as soon as the week before Thanksgiving, the Journal reported. People familiar with the matter expect a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion, with about $100 billion in shares for sale.wsj.com

A delayed listing and a shrinking round

Brockman's timeline matches earlier signals from OpenAI's leadership. In September, CEO Sam Altman said the company would not go public in 2026, saying that "given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public," Reuters reported. In June, Reuters had reported that Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told some associates the company was aiming for a 2027 listing.reuters.com+1

Meanwhile, OpenAI has been hurrying to secure investor commitments before Anthropic's debut, because the two labs are courting many of the same investors, Reuters reported in October. The round first targeted about $30 billion at a valuation above $1.4 trillion, with backers including SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi's MGX in talks to take part. Sources told Reuters the money would also strengthen OpenAI's balance sheet in case weaker IPO markets push its listing back further.reuters.com

Those terms have since come down. Citing the Financial Times, Reuters reported on October 30 that OpenAI had cut its target to about $20 billion and lowered its desired valuation to $1.25 trillion during a tech-stock selloff driven by AI worries. The first close was expected to come in below $20 billion. OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion in March, after a $122 billion round that included a commitment of up to $50 billion from Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↗ 6.12%, according to Reuters.reuters.com+1