OPENAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar informed employees during a Wednesday all-hands meeting that the artificial intelligence lab plans to become a public company in 2027, with a possible earlier debut if growth accelerates.
Friar described the initial public offering as a milestone and another fundraise, not a finish line. The company raised $122 billion in March, providing financial flexibility.
OpenAI confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June but has not publicly disclosed a specific debut date.
The timing announcement comes as OpenAI faces intensifying pressure to justify its $852 billion valuation. Rival Anthropic has also confidentially filed its prospectus and is holding early investor meetings, with reports suggesting a possible September debut.
Friar directly addressed Anthropic's competitive position during the employee meeting. "That's OK, we are running our own race," she said.
OpenAI's financial performance supports the IPO timeline: revenue run rate grew 35 percent quarter to date, while enterprise revenue climbed 50 percent. The company's AI coding product reached 20 million weekly active users. OpenAI generated $6.7 billion in revenue for the second quarter, an 18 percent increase from the first quarter, with annualized revenue run rate now exceeding $40 billion.
AnthropiC, however, is growing faster. The company told investors it achieved a $65 billion annualized revenue run rate at the end of July—a sevenfold increase from one year ago—with preliminary second-quarter revenue of $11.5 billion.
OpenAI's path to the public markets faces headwinds. Executive departures have raised concern among financial backers. Last week, revenue chief Denise Dresser left after eight months; two days earlier, Brad Lightcap ended an eight-year tenure. Fidji Simo, product business chief, stepped down in July due to chronic illness.
Friar, CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman remain in place to execute the public market transition.
