TLDR
- OpenAI aims to raise $60B in a potential 2026 IPO targeting a $1T valuation.
- OpenAI hit a $500B valuation in October 2024 via secondary share sales.
- DeepSeek outperformed ChatGPT-5 in a crypto trading competition in 2025.
- OpenAI spent $5.7B on R&D in the first half of 2025 alone.
OpenAI is reportedly preparing for a public market debut by late 2026, targeting a $1 trillion valuation and a $60 billion capital raise. The move would place OpenAI among the highest-valued IPOs in history. While no date is officially confirmed, the reported plan suggests growing competition among global tech firms as the race for leadership in artificial intelligence continues to accelerate.
IPO Plans May Arrive Earlier Than Expected
According to a report by Reuters, OpenAI is working toward launching an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of 2026. The target valuation is set at $1 trillion, with plans to raise $60 billion through the offering. Three anonymous sources familiar with the matter shared this information.
The timeline marks a shift from OpenAI’s earlier public statements that suggested a potential IPO in 2027. However, an OpenAI spokesperson clarified to Reuters that the company has not confirmed any specific IPO date. “We are building a durable business and advancing our mission so everyone benefits from AGI,” the spokesperson said.
The proposed IPO could position OpenAI among the world’s most valuable companies, pushing it ahead of other major tech startups that have not yet gone public. It would also mark a major milestone for the AI sector as a whole, reflecting rapid growth and investment in artificial intelligence.
OpenAI’s Market Valuation Reaches $500 Billion in 2024
In October 2024, OpenAI reached a valuation of $500 billion during a secondary share sale. This made it the highest-valued startup in the world, ahead of SpaceX, which was valued at $400 billion at the time.
The secondary share sale involved employees selling $6.6 billion worth of stock to institutional investors. This valuation was achieved without going public, indicating the high demand from private investors and the confidence in OpenAI’s future business prospects.
This large-scale funding came as OpenAI continued to expand its AI capabilities, with billions invested in research and model development during 2025 alone. The strong private market activity laid the groundwork for the possible IPO, expected to attract substantial institutional interest.
Global Competition in AI Intensifies
As OpenAI prepares for a public listing, competition from Chinese firms is growing. In a recent autonomous crypto trading competition, China-based AI models outperformed OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other Western models.
DeepSeek, an AI model from China, was the only system in the competition to generate a positive return. It recorded a gain of around 9% as of October 22. Meanwhile, ChatGPT-5 posted a 66% loss, ranking last in the competition.
The performance gap raised attention, particularly because DeepSeek’s training cost was only $5.3 million. In comparison, OpenAI spent $5.7 billion on research and development in the first half of 2025. The result suggests that training data and model structure may have more influence than spending alone.
Analysts Note Role of Data and Prompts in AI Trading
Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen, said that different results in trading likely come from variations in model training. “Assuming all models received the same prompts and instructions for trading, it can be assumed that the difference lies in the data each model has been trained on,” he told CoinCentral.
He added that further improvements in prompts and model tuning could improve trading performance for systems like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. This suggests that performance in AI-based tasks can shift quickly with adjustments in training strategies.
As firms continue to test AI in specialized areas, performance differences may drive new investments and research, especially as public interest grows around AI-backed products and financial tools.
