OpenAI IPO: CFO Reportedly Flags 2026 Timeline As Aggressive In Rift With CEO Sam Altman

• OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar feels OpenAI won’t be ready for an IPO this year and voiced concerns that reflect the tensions and risks in Altman’s Q4 target, The Information reported.
• Altman has reportedly been excluding Frier from some conversations related to the company’s financial plans.
• Retail investors are increasingly eyeing marquee pre-IPO tech companies, including Anthropic and SpaceX, and picking exposure through funds like ARKK, VCX, and DXYZ.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar has internally warned that the company’s IPO timeline may be too aggressive, putting her at odds with CEO Sam Altman, who is pushing for a fourth-quarter listing.

The Information reported, citing a source, that Friar believes OpenAI won’t be ready for an IPO this year and voiced concerns that reflect the tensions and risks inherent in the CEO’s extraordinarily ambitious plans.

She said she wasn’t sure yet whether OpenAI would need to pour so much money into acquiring AI servers in the coming years or whether its slowing revenue growth would support the commitments, according to the report.

As a result, Altman has reportedly been excluding Frier from certain conversations about the company’s financial plans. Moreover, last year, Frier stopped reporting to Altman and instead began reporting to Fidji Simo, who had joined as head of OpenAI’s applications business.

Fresh Headache For OpenAI

The development adds another layer of risk for OpenAI, which in recent months has faced investor concerns over its heavy infrastructure spending, a reportedly strained relationship with key backer Microsoft, and rising competition from rival and IPO hopeful Anthropic.

OpenAI raised $122 billion billion last month, the biggest equity funding round ever. The funds, most of which are from Amazon and Nvidia in return for purchase commitments for cloud capacity and chips, would come in tranches.

Retail Eying Exposure In Top Pre-IPO Tech Firms 

Retail investors are closely watching IPO updates for marquee tech companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX, with many already picking up exposure through funds such as ARK Innovation (ARKK), Fundrise Innovation Fund (VCX), Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ), and KraneShares Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AGIX).

Last week, Ark Invest said it picked up a $240 million stake in OpenAI through its funds ARKK, ARK Fintech Innovation (ARKF) and ARK Next Generation Internet (ARKW).

Iran Issues Threat To OpenAI’s Abu Dhabi Data Center

In a separate development, reports over the weekend said Iran issued fresh threats to target U.S. infrastructure in the Gulf, specifically naming the $30 billion Stargate AI data center in Abu Dhabi, unless Washington halts its attacks.

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