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What’s Behind OpenAI’s Hedged IPO Bet

Can OpenAI do anything simply? Many companies, when publicly acknowledging the possibility of an IPO, emphasize that the final decision will depend in part on “market conditions.” That’s what OpenAI’s rival Anthropic did last week . But the ChatGPT firm chose to be more cryptic. Revealing its confidential IPO filing on Monday, OpenAI said it might hold off on its debut for a while “because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company.” That very well may be obfuscation—the Nasdaq has fallen 5% over the past week, including 1% on Tuesday, so market volatility presumably looms large in the thinking of OpenAI’s management and advisers. Otherwise, what could OpenAI be talking about? It’s no secret that tech entrepreneurs often hold off on an IPO because they want the flexibility to build a business—often by making long-term and costly bets—without the scrutiny and pressure of the public markets. But if that was a worry for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, he’d probably never go public at all .

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