OpenAI considers pushing IPO to next year, eyeing SpaceX's post-listing slump

OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT AI model, is reportedly exploring the possibility of pushing its stock market listing to next year.

Citing multiple internal sources, The New York Times reported Thursday that OpenAI is in discussions about delaying its initial public offering, which had originally been targeted for this year.

The move appears to reflect concern over the trajectory of Elon Musk's space company SpaceX, whose share price declined after it recently completed the largest IPO in its history.

CEO Sam Altman had previously directed advisers — including investment banks and lawyers — to explore ways to achieve a $1 trillion valuation through a listing targeting the third or fourth quarter. The mood has shifted recently, however, in light of SpaceX's performance and other factors.

The fallout has not been confined to SpaceX alone. Investors have grown more skeptical of AI company valuations, and technology stocks broadly have weakened — leaving OpenAI little choice but to revise its original timeline, analysts say.

Advisers presented two options: hold firm on the $1 trillion valuation and list next year, or accept a lower valuation and proceed with an earlier listing, sources said.

Altman made clear he would not accept a reduced valuation, they added.

OpenAI's recent financial performance also appears to be giving the company pause about rushing to market.

OpenAI has set a goal of tripling its annual sales this year from the $13 billion it recorded last year. However, its monthly revenue has been running at around $2 billion so far this year.

User growth is also slowing. Contrary to investor expectations that the platform would easily surpass 1 billion users, the figure has remained in the 900 million range.

New revenue streams — including advertising for free and low-cost plan users and a shopping feature added through partnerships with e-commerce companies — are still in their early stages.

Meanwhile, OpenAI has been aggressively recruiting talent, adding a former White House AI adviser to its ranks after previously bringing on a co-developer of Google's Gemini.

OpenAI hired Dean Ball, who served as senior policy adviser for AI and emerging technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to a June 18 report by Axios.

Ball is set to lead a newly formed team called "Strategic Futures" at OpenAI, and will also work on AI policy and internal governance.

An academic by background, Ball played a key role in the Trump administration's release of the "American AI Action Plan" last year. Until recently, he was a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, a think tank.

"Our mission is to shape cutting-edge AI policy," Ball wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "We will focus on AI's impact on the labor market, its catastrophic risks, and its relationship with government and society."

Axios noted that the hire gives OpenAI an insider with deep knowledge of the US administration.

OpenAI had earlier recruited Noam Shazeer, a co-developer of Gemini.

Shazeer worked at Google starting in 2000, where he helped develop the search engine's spell-checker and advertising technology. He left in 2021 to found the chatbot startup Character.AI, then returned to Google through a licensing agreement and is credited with leading the development of Gemini.