OpenAI files for IPO - here’s what investors need to know

Added: 2026-06-10

[00:00:00]OpenAI has filed to go public in a blockbuster IPO that could value the ChatGPT creator at more than $1 trillion.

[00:00:07]It has confidentially filed for a public listing with the SEC, but has not yet decided on the timing. It comes as OpenAI faces rival Anthropic to list on Wall Street and comes just days before another blockbuster IPO, SpaceX. So, the question is whether we're going to see a whole crowd of IPOs in a short space of time, but uh the update we got there from OpenAI was that it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. To me, that's almost an escape clause. See how the other two land, see what the market conditions look like.

[00:00:38]Don't forget it was what 48 hours ago that we saw the market tanking around the semiconductors. So, it could be a bumpy old market around these incredible financing needs. So, it feels as though there's a caveat here, an escape clause in case OpenAI wants it. But, to the value here and what investors are looking at, OpenAI generating $2 billion in monthly revenue, growing four times faster than what was in the internet mobile eras. Uh We saw from Alphabet and better. So, it's a different generation of companies coming to the market in some respects.

[00:01:05]>> Yeah, and I suppose the other thing for uh Sam Altman, the the challenge for him is to make the case to potential would-be investors about, you know, what what the money's going to be used for because the company's raised a huge amount. I mean, it's $180 billion in funding um and and it's still burning through cash to to try and um keep on with that data center buildout, train, run those AI models. But, it I suppose it depends. Do investors buy the case for raising more through um selling equity?

[00:01:35]>> Um Join the viewers who are watching 2 hours ago.

[00:01:38]>> If they were, sorry. If they weren't, oh, should we play a game?

[00:01:41]>> We [laughter] really have the answers now, don't we?

[00:01:43]>> Well, did you remember the answers?

[00:01:44]>> Let's play the game again.

[00:01:45]>> Let's play the game.

[00:01:46]>> So, so, so, what what is the This is This is the Our answers not on set. He knew hardly a >> 4 trillion.

[00:01:50]>> About 4 trillion.

[00:01:51]>> I have not asked the question yet. 3.78 [laughter] trillion.

[00:01:53]>> You don't even know what the answer is.

[00:01:54]I I might have asked ask question. I've got three questions, and that was that was actually the first answer, yeah.

[00:01:58]What is the combined market cap? I did this 2 hours ago, sorry to be boring.

[00:02:02]What what's the combined market cap of these three companies, pretty much? It's 3.75 to 4 trillion dollars. We we all know that one. That was the easy one. That's your starter for 10. Karen's giving you a little bit of the answer for the second one. What is their sales expected to be? You mentioned 20 You you were very generous, by the way. You said 2 billion dollars a month, but people people are saying it's a little bit lower.

[00:02:18]>> AI.

[00:02:18]>> For Open AI, yeah. So, combined, 75 70 75 billion dollars is the figure for SpaceX, Open AI, and Anthropic. So, 70 75 billion dollars sales, that's the expected. That's not the trailing. And and the combined profits >> minus 25 billion.

[00:02:34]>> Yes, well done. Oh, you do pay attention very well. I love that. So, these companies are losing money hand over fist. There is no immediate route to profitability. And we're being asked to pay, doing a little bit of back-of-the-envelope calculation, an EV to sales of something in the region of 50 times.

[00:02:50]Mean the the the the the aggregate of the three.

[00:02:54]And the problem is as well, I did a little little looking looking at the S-1 for um SpaceX. Again, I'm not trying to build a case for you not to buy it. You're going to buy it regardless. I'm just saying a couple of things that are facts. That they reckon of the money that is being raised, I mean, it's like 80 billion dollars or whatever, is going to be raised for SpaceX alone.

[00:03:10]How much of that Again, I've done this question before cuz you know the answer.

[00:03:12]How much of that is actually going to be to reinvest in the company for growth?

[00:03:16]And how much is it to pay existing investors and indeed to repay the refinancing bridge that they took out recently? It's about 20 billion 20 25% for growth, 70 75% for paying back or 80 up to 80% paying back. So, so it's a lot of money that isn't going to go into growing the business.

[00:03:34]>> Is that necessarily an issue?

[00:03:35]>> Not for our viewers, no, cuz they're going to buy it regardless.

[00:03:37]>> Well, because I mean, there's been so many raises in the private market and series over the last couple of years.

[00:03:42]And if some of it is to manage the debt load, is that a bad thing when there are questions about the amount of debt that's been added into the system thanks to these technology names. And the other point I'd make is that, you know, coming to market now doesn't really need to. It raised 110 billion earlier this year.

[00:03:57]Compare that to the 75 billion that SpaceX is going to raise on the the public markets. Does it need to? But it is an element of getting out there so the user feels like they have a stake in the game that big institutional investors feel they're part of the process as well. It's a sort of a coming of age for the likes of both Anthropic and OpenAI.

[00:04:14]>> Yeah, and and you know, all of these points really you know, really really valid points. And I think come Friday when we have that first of the big blockbuster IPOs, we'll get a sense of whether investors have the appetite for these sort of longer promises.

[00:04:27]>> we will.

[00:04:29]>> And you don't think we'll get a sense of whether or not >> Well, if they if they buy the stock, that's an indication they've got an appetite for it.

[00:04:33]>> No, I don't think so.

[00:04:34]>> You don't You think >> No.

[00:04:36]>> What does that tell us then if they don't buy it?

[00:04:39]>> What?

[00:04:41]It's a Bitcoin. It's like a casino. It's like a It's a meme stock. It's a It's a casino. It's It's It's It's a trade. It Look, I've been unfortunately in and around markets for longer than most people have been around.

[00:04:52]>> [laughter] >> It I It's true. I I and and I've learned very many things I haven't learned in my life. But one thing I've learned is that momentum trumps valuation most of the time. Until it doesn't. And but momentum will in this case trump valuations. And no one will care what I just said about numbers. No one cares anyway. But no one cares about all these granular detail numbers in the moment when they are staggering an IPO. I I I say that I think By all means disagree with me throughout there. By the way, [email protected] if you want to get involved.

[00:05:23]Happy to take all your emails. But I believe fully, having been around for four decades in the markets, momentum will always trump valuation in the moment of a staggering IPO.

[00:05:32]>> Yeah, but to the point if it if it does flop, what happens to AI momentum? We've already seen that tested this week where some momentum has come out of the semiconductors to the point we could call it a correction, almost around the 10% mark. If to your point, Ben, we don't see it land that well, what could it do to broader market sentiment around AI? So, for me, if you are buying into the larger addressable market that the moonshot projects that are going to get off the ground that we're going to see into the future things to Elon Musk's vision. If you really to buy into that, then you need to buy into some of the other semiconductor players as well that have also been incredible big movers.

[00:06:05]So, it could actually influence sentiment. They may revisit the rest of the chain if they think that this is overpriced and that some of these projects are not going to pay off.

[00:06:11]>> What do you reckon, Alan saying mean stock? What do you mean is overused?

[00:06:14]It's a bit like mean stock. Well, mean stocks are shares of companies that experience rapid viral spikes in price and trading volume driven by social media hype rather than traditional financial fundamentals. Alan, I'm going to stick with it. I think it is.

[00:06:25]Thank you.

[00:06:26]>> When it comes to the fundamentals, wasn't one forecast was it Goldman Sachs saying they expect 100 ti- 100-fold increase in revenues?

[00:06:32]>> I I look I >> I have a lot of respect for Goldman Sachs.

[00:06:34]>> Yeah, I know. I'm not >> And they're over the road and we love their guests.

[00:06:37]>> And there's amazing people. The only thing I will say is, who is left lead on this book run?

[00:06:40]>> Yeah, I I know. And that's And that's the thing. And And when I read it the other day >> There's glass doors, loads of them.

[00:06:45]Portcullises between the analytical team and the team people doing the book run, but interesting.

[00:06:50]>> But I'd I'd be fascinated to see how that conclusion's been reached because, you know, we read it the other day. We It was a short summary story on on the program.

[00:06:58]And as I read it, it said, you know, by the end of the decade revenue will have increased 100 100 times. And I, you know, the end of the decade sounds a long time. It's 4 years away.

[00:07:07]>> I mean, that is quite the feat.

[00:07:09]>> Yeah, I agree.

[00:07:10]>> You know.

[00:07:10]>> But the question is whether SpaceX should be part of the Nasdaq just yet and whether this could be a bumpy road because of that early inclusion. I mean, should those rules have been changed?

[00:07:18]Yeah, exactly. So, could that have some impact on the broader market instability they were saying. The other point here is that it could be the challenge of egos. Don't forget Open AI had Elon Musk as one of the early investors. We've been through that lawsuit. And Elon Musk did not win in terms of how it was ultimately changed from a not-for-profit to a for-profit. So, the Altman versus Musk ego trades that we're going to see this year how both of these IPOs land. I don't think that can be underestimated.

[00:07:43]>> Yeah.