OpenAI has recently selected Cooley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz as law firms to prepare for its initial public offering (IPO), which could take place as early as this year. This move marks a significant step for the developer of ChatGPT on its path toward the capital market. According to capital market practices, appointing a law firm usually comes before hiring investment banks, indicating that its listing process has officially entered the compliance and structural organization phase.

OpenAI

Currently, OpenAI is in a critical funding round, with market valuation expectations reaching $730 billion, while the company has already raised $110 billion in investments. If this valuation level is realized in the IPO, OpenAI will create one of the largest IPOs in history, not only reshaping the market value landscape of global tech giants but also allowing ordinary investors to directly hold shares in this pioneer of general artificial intelligence for the first time.

From an industry perspective, OpenAI's listing action reflects the inevitable trend of leading AI companies transitioning from capital-driven to publicly traded enterprises. In the context of an escalating computing power competition, obtaining more scalable and transparent financial support through the public market will provide long-term assurance for its subsequent model development and commercial expansion. This IPO preparation is not only a milestone in OpenAI's development history but also a barometer for measuring the maturity and market recognition of the global generative AI industry.