WHY THIS MATTERS
OpenAI's chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, told employees at an all-hands meeting on August 19, 2026 that the company will be a public company in 2027, though the IPO could come earlier if business momentum keeps accelerating. According to reporting from CNBC and Cryptopolitan, OpenAI's annualized revenue already stands at $40 billion, with 35 percent quarter-over-quarter growth and enterprise revenue surpassing consumer revenue for the first time. The company filed a confidential prospectus with the SEC in June 2026 and is valued at $852 billion.In this article
Friar Confirms the Timeline at an All-Hands Meeting
At an all-hands meeting held Wednesday, August 19, 2026, OpenAI's chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, told employees the company will be a public company in 2027, but that the listing could happen sooner if business momentum keeps accelerating. According to CNBC, Friar described the IPO as a milestone rather than a finish line, calling the process simply another way to raise money.
$40 Billion in Revenue and Accelerating Growth
The figures Friar presented show a fast-expanding company: annualized revenue of $40 billion, 35 percent growth in the current quarter, and a 50 percent jump in enterprise revenue, which now exceeds revenue from individual ChatGPT subscribers. OpenAI has been valued at $852 billion since March 2026, when it closed a $122 billion funding round, and it filed a confidential prospectus with the SEC in June.
An Internal Disagreement Over Timing
According to Cryptopolitan, the timeline Friar revealed reflects an internal disagreement: CEO Sam Altman had pushed for an IPO as early as the fourth quarter of 2026, at a valuation above $1 trillion, while Friar argued the company still needs time to prepare for the disclosure requirements of a public company. Friar's position, informed by her prior experience as Square's CFO and Nextdoor's CEO, prevailed.
The Backdrop: the Race Against Anthropic
The announcement lands amid a direct rivalry with Anthropic, valued at $965 billion since May 2026, with $65 billion in annualized revenue and its own confidential prospectus filed on June 1, targeting a possible listing in September 2027. The close timing between the two companies is likely to keep competitive pressure on quarterly results visible to the market even before either company formally goes public.
Why It Matters for Brazilian Agencies and SMBs
A publicly traded OpenAI will start disclosing detailed quarterly results, giving agencies and companies that rely on ChatGPT's API and models unprecedented visibility into the supplier's real financial health, including margins, cost to serve, and dependence on a handful of large corporate clients. It is worth tracking those numbers once they start being published, since any sign of financial pressure at a critical AI infrastructure supplier could foreshadow pricing or usage-policy changes that directly affect automation operations in Brazil.