OpenAI has quietly taken the first official step toward going public by submitting a confidential IPO filing with the SEC. The company has not set a timeline or revealed pricing details, signaling a cautious approach despite mounting pressure.

This move follows a similar filing from Anthropic, OpenAI’s chief rival, which recently doubled its valuation to $965 billion after a massive funding round. Both firms are racing to capitalize on soaring investor interest in AI.

SpaceX, now valued at $1.25 trillion after merging with Elon Musk’s AI arm, xAI, plans its own IPO this month. Its expected $75 billion raise could become the largest tech listing ever, despite billions in operating losses.

The three companies together could redefine the public tech market. Analysts expect valuations to exceed $1 trillion for each on their debut trading days, a feat only Saudi Aramco has matched in recent memory.

OpenAI’s confidential filing will force scrutiny of its complex governance. The company’s unusual structure includes a nonprofit origin, a capped-profit model, and a public benefit corporation controlled by its foundation. Microsoft holds a reported 27% stake, complicating ownership and revenue disclosures.

Meanwhile, Anthropic’s governance is cleaner but not without questions. Its public benefit corporation status from inception contrasts with OpenAI’s evolving structure, yet it faces SEC scrutiny over trust-based board control and revenue reporting.

OpenAI’s IPO timing remains uncertain. The company claims it needs to remain private longer to complete internal projects and partnerships. It recently renegotiated terms with Microsoft, opening doors to alliances with Amazon and Google.

Revenue figures suggest OpenAI is no longer an early-stage startup. ChatGPT boasts over 900 million weekly users and more than 50 million paid subscribers. Monthly revenue hit $2 billion in March, with quarterly revenue around $1 billion at the end of 2024.

To bolster its business, OpenAI is overhauling ChatGPT into a “super app” with AI agents and coding tools. This pivot targets high-value enterprise clients and shifts the product away from a mere chatbot to an AI assistant embedded in everyday workflows.

Anthropic and OpenAI’s public offerings will test Wall Street’s appetite for AI stocks amid warnings of a potential bubble. SpaceX’s listing will set the tone, with investor demand expected to be voracious due to its scarcity of shares and global profile.

Other AI players like Perplexity plan IPOs in the coming years, undeterred by the market’s reception of these giants. The rush to public markets reflects the capital-intensive nature of training frontier AI models and a quest for cheaper funding.

The IPOs will mark a turning point. Transparent disclosures will expose risks tied to governance, revenue recognition, and the pursuit of artificial general intelligence. The market will finally judge if these AI titans deserve their stratospheric valuations.