OpenAI's CFO Tells Staff: 2027 IPO Target, No Rush If Anthropic Goes Public First

What happened

At an internal all-hands meeting on Wednesday, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar gave staff the clearest timeline yet for the company's long-anticipated public offering: 2027, potentially sooner if the "business continues to inflect."

Her remarks came more than two months after OpenAI submitted a confidential S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. When the filing was first reported in June, OpenAI declined to name a debut date and left the door open to staying private longer.

Friar framed the IPO not as a milestone endpoint but as a practical funding step — what she reportedly called "another fundraise." She pointed to the $122 billion OpenAI raised in March as the reason the company has the flexibility to wait. OpenAI's post-money valuation stands at $852 billion.

The timing question has taken on added urgency because rival AI lab Anthropic has also filed confidentially and held early meetings with prospective investors. A $2 trillion valuation has circulated ahead of a possible Anthropic autumn debut. Friar told staff not to worry if Anthropic lifts the cover on its filing first, reportedly saying, "That's OK, we are running our own race."

Why it matters

The two leading AI labs are now on a collision course toward the public markets, but they are signaling very different postures. Anthropic appears to be moving faster, with early investor meetings and chatter about a fall listing at a valuation that would dwarf OpenAI's current $852 billion mark. OpenAI, by contrast, is telling its own employees that patience is a virtue — and that its massive private capital base removes any urgency.

The revenue picture adds nuance. Anthropic shared a preliminary second-quarter revenue figure of $11.5 billion and an annualized run rate of $65 billion at the end of July. OpenAI reportedly generated $6.7 billion in Q2, up 18% from the first quarter. If those figures hold, Anthropic may have a compelling narrative for pricing a public offering ahead of its larger-profile competitor.

For the broader AI industry, the sequencing matters. The first major AI lab to go public will set the benchmark for how public investors value frontier-model companies — a category that did not meaningfully exist a few years ago. Whichever company debuts first will effectively price the market for everyone else.

What to watch

• Anthropic's autumn window: If Anthropic moves forward with a fall listing, expect intense scrutiny of its S-1 disclosures — revenue concentration, compute costs, and reliance on cloud partners will be top of mind.
• OpenAI's revenue trajectory: Friar's "sooner if business inflects" caveat leaves room for acceleration. Quarterly revenue growth will be the key variable.
• Valuation gap dynamics: A $2 trillion Anthropic valuation circulating ahead of a possible debut, versus OpenAI's $852 billion post-money figure, raises questions about how each company is being priced and by whom.
• Regulatory backdrop: Both companies operate under increasing scrutiny from antitrust and AI-safety regulators; any IPO filing will invite additional public examination of competitive practices and governance structures.