SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has taken its first formal step toward becoming a publicly traded company, signalling a potential new phase in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry.
The Sam Altman-led firm announced on Monday that it had confidentially submitted an S-1 registration statement to US securities regulators. While the company has not decided when it might launch an initial public offering (IPO), the filing gives it the flexibility to move forward when conditions are favourable.
The move comes just a week after rival Anthropic, developer of the Claude chatbot, disclosed a similar confidential filing, highlighting intensifying competition among leading AI companies.
OpenAI said remaining private still offers advantages, but acknowledged that going public remains an option. An IPO would allow ordinary investors to buy shares in the company while providing access to significant new funding.
Founded in 2015 as a research laboratory, OpenAI rose to global prominence following the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. Since then, it has evolved into one of the world’s most valuable private technology firms.
The company, along with competitors such as Anthropic, has invested heavily in computing infrastructure, data centres and advanced chips required to train increasingly powerful AI models.
Analysts say public listings could provide AI firms with additional capital to sustain growth as development costs continue to rise. However, becoming publicly traded would also require greater financial transparency, something many fast-growing technology companies often seek to delay.
