OpenAI Says It Could Be IPO-Ready by 2027 as Enterprise Sales Become Majority of Revenue

"I think so," he said, when asked if OpenAI would be IPO-ready next year.
Brockman's brief answer at a Wall Street Journal conference in Napa on Wednesday.
Mark

So what actually happened here? Someone said something at a conference.

Mimi

Yes, but a specific someone. Greg Brockman, OpenAI's president, told a Wall Street Journal event in Napa that most of the company's revenue now comes from enterprise sales, and that he thinks OpenAI can be IPO-ready in 2027.

Mark

Why does the enterprise part matter?

Mimi

OpenAI was known first for a consumer product. Selling mostly to businesses is a different picture of the company, and it's the same ground Anthropic is competing on. Brockman named the Codex agent as something they're pushing.

Luke

Let me slow down there. "Majority" is all we have. No revenue figure, no percentage, nothing independent confirming it. It's Brockman's statement.

Mimi

That's fair. The report gives no numbers at all.

Mark

And the IPO claim?

Luke

It's softer than the headline sounds. He was asked if OpenAI would be ready next year and said "I think so." That's an opinion about readiness, not an announced listing.

Mark

What about Anthropic?

Mimi

The report says it's likely to go public before year end. That puts it ahead of OpenAI if it happens.

Luke

"Likely" is doing work there too, and the source doesn't say who is saying it.

Mark

And the fundraising?

Mimi

Reuters reported OpenAI has been racing to raise money after delaying its IPO plans. The details of the delay and the amounts aren't given.

Luke

Right, so what's unknown is large: how long the delay was, how much they're raising, and what the enterprise share really is.

  • OpenAI's president was pressed on stage about whether the company will be ready to list next year, and his answer was a tentative "I think so".
  • Most of OpenAI's revenue now comes from enterprise customers, a sharp turn from the consumer product that made the company famous.
  • Rival Anthropic is expected to go public before year end, putting pressure on OpenAI to show its business case in the same market.
  • OpenAI is pushing its Codex agent to business clients and racing to raise funds after an earlier delay to its IPO plans.
  • The coming test is whether the fundraising drive becomes a firm listing plan and whether enterprise growth holds as both labs chase the same customers.

On a stage in Napa, a company that began as a consumer curiosity is now telling the world that its future rests with businesses, and that it may be ready to open its books to public markets next year. OpenAI's president, Greg Brockman, offered a measured "I think so" when asked about an IPO, a reply that reads more like a hope held with care than a date on a calendar. It is a familiar human pattern: the early enthusiasm of the many gives way to the steady patronage of organisations, and ambition begins to look for the discipline of public scrutiny. Whether that discipline arrives in 2027 or later will depend on the quiet work now under way, and on whether a rival's own move to market reshapes the terms of the wait.

On a stage at a Wall Street Journal technology conference in Napa, California, OpenAI President Greg Brockman was asked whether the company will be ready for an initial public offering next year. His reply was brief: "I think so." It was a belief, not a scheduled listing.

Brockman also said that most of OpenAI's revenue now comes from enterprise sales. The San Francisco lab first became widely known through a consumer product, so the shift marks a real change in its identity. The company is pressing business customers hard, with its Codex agent at the centre of that push.

The effort is unfolding in direct competition with Anthropic, which is likely to go public before the end of this year and so reach the market ahead of OpenAI's proposed timeline. Reuters has reported that OpenAI has been racing to raise funds to capitalise on its growth, following a delay in its IPO plans. The reports do not say how long that delay lasted, what the original timeline was, or how much money is being sought, and they give no revenue figures or valuation.

What is clear is the pairing of two developments: a revenue base tilting toward enterprises, and public talk of a listing next year. The open questions are whether the fundraising becomes a firm IPO plan, and whether enterprise growth holds as both companies compete for the same business customers.

On stage at a Wall Street Journal technology conference in Napa, California, OpenAI President Greg Brockman was asked a direct question: will the company be ready for an IPO next year? His answer was brief. "I think so," he said. The exchange took place on Wednesday.

Brockman also told the audience that OpenAI now earns the majority of its revenue from enterprise sales. That marks a change in the company's profile. The San Francisco-based lab first became widely known through a consumer product, and the metadata accompanying the report frames the enterprise lead as a shift away from that consumer-focused early business.

The push into business customers is happening in direct competition with Anthropic, a rival AI lab. Brockman said OpenAI has been stepping up its sales to companies, and he named one product in particular that it is pushing: its Codex agent. Anthropic, according to the report, is likely to go public before the end of this year, which would put it on the market ahead of OpenAI's own proposed timeline.

The report also places Brockman's comments in a longer financial story. Reuters has reported that OpenAI has been racing to ramp up its fundraising so it can capitalise on its recent growth. That effort follows a delay in the company's IPO plans. The source does not say how long the delay was, what the original timeline looked like, or how much money the company is trying to raise.

Nor does the report give figures for OpenAI's revenue, the size of the enterprise share beyond "majority," or any valuation. Brockman's statement about 2027 is also a belief rather than a commitment: he said he thinks the company will be ready, not that a listing has been scheduled.

What the report does establish is a pairing of two developments. OpenAI says its revenue base has tilted toward enterprise customers, and its leadership is publicly saying that a public listing could come next year. Anthropic's expected move before year end will likely shape how that comparison is read.

The thing to watch is whether the fundraising push Reuters described translates into a firmer IPO plan, and whether the enterprise growth Brockman pointed to holds up as both companies court the same business customers.

I think so.
— Greg Brockman, OpenAI President, asked if OpenAI will be ready for an IPO next year
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