OpenAI IPO pushed to 2027 as Altman demands $1 trillion

Key Takeaways

• Sam Altman rejected a faster IPO at a lower valuation, calling anything below $1 trillion a 'nonstarter'
• SoftBank lost 13% of its stock value in one day after the delay rumors surfaced
• ChatGPT user growth has stalled at 900 million, short of the billion-user target OpenAI expected

OpenAI is delaying its IPO to 2027 because CEO Sam Altman refuses to go public for less than $1 trillion. The company had planned to list in late 2026, with bankers and lawyers already hired. Altman's valuation demand, up from OpenAI's last private round at $730 billion, killed that timeline.

The New York Times, citing three people involved in the discussions, reports that advisors gave Altman two options: accept a lower valuation and move faster, or wait until 2027 to hit the trillion-dollar mark. Altman called the lower valuation a "nonstarter."

SoftBank took the hardest hit. The Japanese conglomerate, which has committed roughly $65 billion to OpenAI by October, saw its stock fall 13% in a single day. That's the steepest drop since August 2024.

Why SpaceX's IPO spooked OpenAI's advisors

SpaceX's IPO earlier this month looked like a triumph on paper. Elon Musk's rocket company raised over $85 billion and hit a $1.77 trillion valuation on day one. It was the largest IPO in history.

Then the stock slid from $202 to $153. That 24% drop gave OpenAI's advisors pause. If SpaceX, a company with actual rockets and revenue from government contracts, couldn't hold its valuation, what would happen to an AI company still burning cash?

Advisors warned Altman that retail investors aren't enthusiastic about AI stocks right now. The broader tech market remains choppy. Investors are asking hard questions about whether AI companies can deliver on their promises, not just their projections.

OpenAI's financial picture doesn't support the trillion-dollar story

Altman wants to tell investors a transformation story: enterprise AI, massive infrastructure, and a coding tool with explosive growth. OpenAI's Codex now has over four million weekly users, up fivefold in three months, according to DeployCo CTO Arnaud Fournier.

The numbers behind the curtain tell a different story. OpenAI brought in about $13 billion in revenue in 2025 and wants to triple that this year. The company still isn't profitable. It's pouring money into data centers. And ChatGPT user growth has stalled at around 900 million, well short of the billion-user milestone OpenAI expected to hit.

In late 2025, CFO Sarah Friar said OpenAI wasn't pursuing an IPO and was focused on its finances. The company cut projects like the video generator Sora and started building a sales team to compete with Anthropic's Claude Code. These aren't the moves of a company ready to defend a trillion-dollar valuation to public market investors.

What SoftBank stands to lose

SoftBank's bet on OpenAI is one of the largest single investments in AI history. The IPO delay hurts because public markets would give SoftBank's holdings a transparent price. Right now, those shares are valued at whatever the last private round said. That creates what analysts call a "conglomerate discount" on SoftBank's stock.

“News of an IPO delay naturally dampens those expectations.”

— Hiroki Takei, strategist at Resona Holdings

Before the delay rumors, SoftBank's market cap had surpassed Toyota's. That valuation was built partly on the promise of a quick OpenAI payoff. Now SoftBank investors face another year, maybe longer, of waiting.

Can Altman justify the trillion-dollar demand?

A $1 trillion valuation would make OpenAI one of the ten most valuable companies on Earth. For context, Meta trades around $1.4 trillion. Nvidia, which actually makes the chips that power AI, sits near $3 trillion.

OpenAI's path to that valuation runs through enterprise software. Consumer AI is exciting but hard to monetize at scale. The real money is in selling AI tools to corporations. That's why Codex and DeployCo matter. That's why the sales team buildout matters.

But enterprise sales take time. Embedding AI deep into corporate workflows isn't a one-quarter project. Altman is essentially betting that by 2027, OpenAI's B2B revenue will be large and sticky enough to justify the valuation. It's a reasonable bet. It's not a certain one.

What happens next

OpenAI will spend the next year trying to close the gap between its current financials and Altman's valuation target. That means pushing Codex adoption, landing major enterprise contracts, and ideally showing profitability, or at least a clear path to it.

The risk is that the AI market shifts before OpenAI can go public. Anthropic is competing aggressively. Google is pouring resources into Gemini. And the next generation of open-source models may narrow the capability gap. By 2027, OpenAI may face a different competitive landscape than the one Altman is pricing today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is OpenAI delaying its IPO to 2027?

CEO Sam Altman insists on a $1 trillion valuation, which advisors say isn't achievable in current market conditions. Volatile tech markets and SpaceX's weak post-IPO performance reinforced the case for waiting.

What was OpenAI's last private valuation?

OpenAI was valued at $730 billion in its most recent private funding round. Altman is seeking a $270 billion increase to reach the trillion-dollar mark.

How much has SoftBank invested in OpenAI?

SoftBank's investment in OpenAI is set to reach approximately $65 billion by October. The IPO delay caused SoftBank's stock to drop 13% in one day.

Is OpenAI profitable?

No. OpenAI generated about $13 billion in revenue in 2025 but remains unprofitable. The company is spending heavily on data centers and compute infrastructure.

How many users does ChatGPT have?

ChatGPT has approximately 900 million users, but growth has stalled. OpenAI had expected to reach one billion users by now.

Source: The Decoder / Maximilian Schreiner