Sam Altman's original plan was perfectly clear: go public this year despite the reservations of Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar. Now, however, it appears that the IPO is being postponed until 2027. What has changed?
The CFO Slows Things Down
The key figure in the whole story is Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, she suggested to colleagues that they postpone going public (IPO) until 2027. She explained that the company does not yet meet the strict financial standards required of publicly traded companies. She also expressed concerns that revenue may not grow quickly enough to cover its extensive computing infrastructure commitments.
Friar also toned down Altman's public statement that OpenAI's total commitment to computing capacity could reach as much as $1.4 trillion. She told investors that the actual planned amount is $600 billion through 2030. According to Friar, even this planned investment is a reason why the company is not yet ready for an IPO.
The Numbers That Did Not Add Up
However, organizational readiness is not the only problem. According to a research firm, OpenAI also failed to meet its target of reaching one billion weekly active ChatGPT users and missed some of its monthly revenue targets. Although the company's annual revenue is approximately $25 billion, its total loss for 2025 amounted to $44 billion.
In their May 2026 report titled “OpenAI: The IPO That Cannot Afford to Wait,” analysts at PitchBook state that the goal of going public in the fourth quarter of 2026 was overly ambitious from the outset. In their more sober assessment, mid-to-late 2027 is more realistic, provided that the company demonstrates stable results.
Altman Is Not Giving Up
Nevertheless, CEO Sam Altman is not giving up on his intention to take the company public as soon as possible. Competition is undoubtedly one of his motivations.
It is no secret that the AI sector is under intense scrutiny and that whoever goes public first will emerge as the winner. They will gain access to the largest investors and gradually shape the entire industry.
OpenAI's biggest competitor is Anthropic, which was founded by former OpenAI employees. The company continues to grow in popularity and could go public as early as October this year. This could enable it to achieve a valuation of more than $900 billion and surpass OpenAI's current valuation of $852 billion.
External factors are also coming into play. One is the fact that Altman's personal investments have become the subject of a congressional investigation into a potential conflict of interest. Another troubling factor is the sale of shares by more than 600 OpenAI employees in October last year for a total of $6.6 billion. To insiders, this may signal that the employees who know the company best do not want to wait before selling.
What Comes Next?
Whether OpenAI goes public in 2026 or 2027, it will fundamentally change the rules of the game. OpenAI is undoubtedly one of the strongest players in the AI market, but for the first time, it will have to disclose its financial results regularly and face direct comparisons with its competitors.
The disparity between the billions spent on infrastructure and actual revenue will be visible to every investor. That is precisely why timing matters so much and why CFO Sarah Friar believes the company is not yet ready for such a level of transparency.
Source: Trading Key, International Business Times, BigGo Finance, Gizmodo
