OpenAI could go public before 2027 if business ‘continues to inflect,’ CFO Friar tells staff

OpenAI will go public in 2027, chief financial officer Sarah Friar told employees at an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, per CNBC, which cited two people familiar with her remarks who were not authorised to speak publicly.

Friar said the company “will be a public company in 2027” and could debut earlier if the business continues to inflect. She played down what the listing means, describing it to staff as a milestone rather than a finish line and another way to raise money.

The firm earned $122 billion in March at an $852 billion valuation, which she believes provides the firm with some maneuverability. OpenAI filed its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission privately in June but hasn’t announced any date yet.

Friar’s 2027 timeline wins out over Altman’s earlier push

The 2027 date settles an argument that has run inside the company since the winter. As Cryptopolitan reported in June, Sam Altman was pushing for an IPO in Q4 2026 and refused to consider any valuation below $1 trillion, whereas Friar made the case internally to wait until 2027 due to the fact that the company was not ready for public disclosures.

Advisers presented leadership with two options, a faster listing at a lower price or a 2027 listing at the target valuation. Friar’s position is now the one being communicated to the whole company. It is also a contradiction of her own public stance. Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event in November, she said that an “IPO is not on the cards right now” and that she was “not interested in getting tied up in an IPO”.

OpenAI says revenue growth is accelerating ahead of a listing

Friar presented figures alongside the timeline. Revenue run rate is up 35% quarter to date and enterprise run rate up 50%. The enterprise number is relevant since Friar said to investors on 14th August that business income was now greater than consumer income, starting the year with a reverse ratio of 60-40 and annualizing to $40 billion with growth of 32% in just July.

This meeting took place just days after the departure of the company’s chief revenue officer, Denise Dresser, who is among several high-level executives who have left the firm this year. OpenAI bought back $7 billion in employee shares last week at the same $852 billion valuation set in March.

Anthropic still leads on valuation and reported run-rate revenue

Friar addressed the competition directly, telling employees Anthropic might reveal its filing in the coming weeks and go public in September, and that this was fine. Both companies have been informed by banks that whoever lists first will set the industry standards, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Anthropic filed its confidential S-1 on June 1 and was valued at $965 billion in May, $113 billion above OpenAI’s most recent private mark. According to Cryptopolitan, investors are discussing the possibility of a valuation in excess of $2 trillion when Anthropic goes public, and it achieved a run rate of $65 billion per year compared to OpenAI’s $40 billion in late July. Neither company has published a date.