OpenAI Prepares Confidential IPO Filing as Soon as Friday

OpenAI is preparing to confidentially file a draft of its IPO prospectus as soon as Friday, CNBC confirmed on Wednesday. The artificial intelligence company, valued at more than $850 billion by private investors, is gearing up for what could be one of the largest public market debuts in history.

The company is working with banks including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to prepare to file in the coming days or weeks. The details come from a source familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the plans are confidential. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the confidential filing.

An OpenAI representative said in a statement that as part of normal governance, the company regularly evaluates a range of strategic options. The representative added that the company's focus remains on execution.

CNBC previously reported that OpenAI has been preparing to IPO as soon as the fourth quarter of this year. Last month, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told CNBC that it is "good hygiene" for a company of OpenAI's size to "look and feel and act" like a public company. She would not comment on a specific timeline. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley did not comment.

OpenAI kickstarted the AI boom with the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot in 2022. It has since ballooned into one of the most valuable private companies in the world. The company has raised more than $180 billion from investors.

It continues to burn through cash at a historic pace. As OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushes toward an IPO, he is under pressure from investors to show that the numbers work. The company faces increasingly stiff competition from rivals, most notably Anthropic, which is winning in the enterprise and the AI coding market.