After winning its key legal battle with Elon Musk, OpenAI appears poised to reach its next milestone in the capital markets.New York TimesAccording to sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI is actively in discussions with Wall Street giants such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to pave the way for its initial public offering (IPO), and could formally submit its application as early as September this year.
However, behind this AI behemoth valued at $7300 billion lies an astonishing rate of cash burn and the controversial mystery of "circular investment" among tech giants.
With legal obstacles removed, the IPO plan is ready to go.
Earlier this week, a U.S. federal judge and jury...Formal rejectionElon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI. This ruling ensures the legitimacy and structural stability of OpenAI's for-profit division, allowing management to proceed with its IPO plans without any concerns.
According to sources, OpenAI is closely monitoring stock market developments to choose the most opportune time to submit its S-1 listing application. In response to these rumors, OpenAI gave a fairly standard corporate public relations response: "As part of normal corporate governance, we regularly evaluate various strategic options, and our current focus remains on execution."
A market valuation of $7300 billion, and a bottomless "money pit".
In its latest funding round, OpenAI's valuation has soared to a staggering $7300 billion. However, its financial statements present a highly contradictory picture: revenue is growing extremely rapidly, but the rate at which it burns through cash is even faster.
Data shows that OpenAI's revenue reached $37 billion in 2024, but its losses that year amounted to $50 billion.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly pledged to invest up to $6000 billion in AI computing infrastructure by 2030. Experts predict that with such reckless capital expenditure, OpenAI's accumulated losses could reach $440 billion by 2028.
Even the most optimistic investors who have been bullish on OpenAI now admit that the company may not be truly profitable until 2029, or even 2030. For a startup desperately seeking funding in the public market, this is an exceptionally long and risky waiting period.
The "Circular Investment" Controversy: A Capital Game of Transferring Funds Between One Hand and Another?
In addition to its huge losses, OpenAI's valuation is also facing rigorous scrutiny from Wall Street.
Its staggering $7300 billion valuation is largely built on early investments by tech giants like NVIDIA and Microsoft. This situation has sparked questions and criticisms about "circular investment."
Critics point out that OpenAI is one of NVIDIA's largest customers, and Microsoft has been its exclusive cloud service provider for many years. Can this "I invest in you, and you use my money to buy my hardware and services" business model truly reflect OpenAI's profitability? This is expected to be the most difficult question to avoid at the IPO briefing.
Analysis: The AI infrastructure war has entered a "capital battle."
From SpaceX and Anthropic to OpenAI, which is rumored to be going public in September, the US stock market in the second half of 2026 has become a cash cow for top AI giants.
OpenAI's decision to push for an IPO at this time, besides removing legal hurdles, stems from a more practical reason: it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a single investor in the primary market (private market) capable of filling its $100 billion computing power gap. Sam Altman's massive hardware and energy infrastructure plans rely heavily on Wall Street's endless financial resources.
However, once OpenAI becomes a publicly traded company, its financial statements will be scrutinized quarterly. When investors discover a seemingly insurmountable gap between the "subscription revenue" and "computing costs" of generative AI, will the market still be willing to support this company that is "burning money until 2030"? This IPO will not only determine OpenAI's fate but will also establish the future valuation ceiling for the global AI industry.
