According to latest reports, OpenAI has successfully added Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to its IPO underwriting team alongside Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley. The AI giant is stacking Wall Street's biggest names ahead of what's shaping up to be one of the most anticipated public offerings in tech history. As per The Hindu BusinessLine, OpenAI has spoken with banks, including Citigroup and JPMorgan, about working on its upcoming initial public offering, with the discussions indicating the company is considering adding these major investment banks to its underwriting consortium. However, the talks are still ongoing and may not result in Citigroup and JPMorgan joining the final lineup, with other investment banks also expected to participate in the listing preparations.
As reported by Bloomberg News, OpenAI is targeting a confidential draft IPO prospectus filing within weeks, with a public listing planned for later this year. This accelerated timeline positions the company to capitalize on the fall trading window, which typically sees increased institutional participation. The IPO could potentially come later this year, positioning it after the anticipated listing of Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is expected to be the largest IPO of all time at $75 billion. However, OpenAI's offering would still precede a rival artificial intelligence company, Anthropic PBC, which is also expected to launch a jumbo-sized offering later this year or early next year. OpenAI is reportedly targeting a possible public listing as early as September, though the plans remain fluid and subject to change, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
According to reports, OpenAI raised ₹10,100 crore ($122 billion) in its March 2026 funding round, pushing the post-money valuation to ₹7,00,000 crore ($852 billion). That figure puts OpenAI in the neighborhood of some of the world's largest publicly traded companies, before it has even rung the opening bell. The funding round saw participation from major investors including Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank, and Microsoft. This valuation eclipses Anthropic's last reported valuation of ₹7,10,000 crore ($965 billion), though OpenAI has experienced heightened competition from the rival AI company in recent months. On Thursday, Anthropic said it raised $65 billion in a funding round that valued the company at ₹7,10,000 crore ($965 billion), surpassing OpenAI's most recent valuation of ₹7,00,000 crore ($852 billion).
Wall Street banks have been quietly expanding their research coverage of large private companies like OpenAI, a departure from tradition where analyst coverage typically begins only after a company files publicly. Additionally, Crypto exchange OKX has initiated plans to launch perpetual futures contracts that would provide synthetic exposure to OpenAI's private valuation, allowing crypto traders to bet on OpenAI's price movements without ever touching an actual share of stock. The IPO pipeline beyond OpenAI includes comparisons to SpaceX, another mega-cap private company that has attracted similar speculative interest, with OpenAI's revenue trajectory and path to profitability expected to be central debates once its S-1 becomes public. Over the past year, competition in artificial intelligence has intensified, especially from Anthropic, though OpenAI continues to expand rapidly, driven by strong growth in its AI agent tools and increasing adoption among enterprise customers.
