OpenAI CFO Says ChatGPT-Maker’s New Structure Keeps The Door Open For An IPO

OpenAI’s chief financial officer Sarah Friar said on Wednesday that the artificial intelligence (AI) startup’s new structure keeps the doors open for an initial public offering (IPO) in the future.

Speaking at the Dublin Tech Summit, Friar said that OpenAI going public would depend on its corporate strategy as well as the mood in the markets, according to a Reuters report.

“Nobody tweet in this room that Sarah Friar just said anything about OpenAI ultimately going public. I did not. I said it could happen,” she clarified.

Friar added that taking a company public requires a certain level of predictability.

“Which is why you have to build a company that can be sustainable and safe regardless of where the public markets are, how open that window is,” she added.

OpenAI had announced plans to convert its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation (PBC) in December, but subsequently modified it following a lawsuit from one of its co-founders, Elon Musk.

OpenAI’s new structure gives its non-profit parent a large stake in the PBC, allowing the company to balance its profit goals with public benefits. It also lets OpenAI raise more funds to maintain its position in the AI race.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is currently among the largest shareholders in OpenAI – the Windows-maker has invested nearly $13 billion to date.

The ChatGPT-maker, on the other hand, is currently valued at $300 billion, following a $40 billion funding round in March, led by Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group. This funding round nearly doubled OpenAI’s valuation, from $157 billion.

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