OpenAI Files Confidential S-1 as Rivals Eye IPOs

OpenAI submitted a confidential S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and announced the filing on X, saying it expected the document to leak. The company posted: “We recently submitted a confidential S-1. We expect it to leak so we’re just announcing it.” The post added: “We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs, and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”

OpenAI has worked with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on a confidential draft of the registration. Its last funding round in March valued the company at $852 billion. The announcement did not include the financial disclosures that appear in a public S-1.

Anthropic filed a confidential S-1 about a week earlier and recently closed a $65 billion funding round that valued the company at about $965 billion. SpaceX is targeting a June 12 Nasdaq debut; demand for that offering has reached roughly $150 billion against an initial $75 billion target, and the order book is scheduled to close this week.

A confidential S-1 lets a company submit detailed registration documents to the SEC while keeping them private during the agency’s initial review. The filing can be converted into a public S-1 later if the company decides to proceed with an IPO.

OpenAI noted the confidential filing preserves optionality while it weighs timing, capital needs and operational plans. The company did not provide a timetable or other financial details in its announcement.