OpenAI’s IPO Hopes Face Skeptical Investor Community

OpenAI is likely at least six months away from going public, and possibly longer. But as the company takes steps toward an initial public offering, investment banks trying to get a piece of the business are contacting public market investors to gauge how they’re thinking about OpenAI’s prospects as a public company, said one person who has been on the receiving end of the outreach.

The mood is mixed. Investors expect the company to raise tens or potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in its initial public offering, meaning it could easily eclipse even Saudi Aramco’s blockbuster IPO in 2019, which brought in over $25 billion. But many public market investors—even those who are bullish on OpenAI’s favorable position in the competitive landscape of AI—are somewhat skeptical. We spoke to 11 of them, the majority of whom don’t own equity in OpenAI already.