OpenAI IPO: AI Behemoth Likely To Delay Public Issue - What We Know So Far

In 2026, the words ‘largest IPO ever’ have become a common part of the market’s vocabulary. Be it the SpaceX IPO, which made headlines globally for being the largest public issue after raising USD 75 billion or closer home, the public issue of Jio Platforms, which is set to be the biggest public issue in the history of the Indian primary market.

However, despite the mega listings anticipated for 2026, artificial intelligence behemoth OpenAI has announced its decision to delay its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO), according to a report by The New York Times.

The reported development has left investors wondering about the reasons which made the company delay its public issue mere weeks after filing confidential draft papers for a public listing just after SpaceX’s historic debut.

Why Is OpenAI Considering A Delay?

According to the report, the key reasons behind the potential postponement include a mixture of volatility within the tech sector and steep valuation targets for the company’s public issue. Financial advisers, too, have cautioned OpenAI that recent turbulence in technology stocks could heavily dampen the enthusiasm of retail investors.Another key factor behind the delay in the public issue is how SpaceX shares have traded post-listing.

When SpaceX made its public debut, the company fixed its IPO price at USD 135 per share, listing with a 19 per cent premium, pushing the company’s valuation past the USD 2 trillion mark. However, once the early momentum abated, the stock fell for the next six trading sessions, tumbling roughly 24 per cent from the peak. It is likely that this swift downtrend also influenced the reported postponement of OpenAI’s IPO.

The other factor which may have influenced the delay is OpenAI’s targeted valuation. The AI firm was valued at USD 852 billion following a USD 122 billion funding round earlier this year, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

However, OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman is pushing advisers to target a public listing valuation of up to USD 1 trillion. According to a report by The New York Times, banking teams warned that launching the IPO under current conditions could force the company to accept a valuation below the trillion-dollar threshold. However, for Altman, reducing that target is considered a non-starter.

When Is OpenAI IPO Expected To Launch Now

Instead of pushing for a stock market debut in the third or fourth quarter of this year, OpenAI is now leaning toward holding off until 2027. According to a report by The New York Times, three individuals involved in the internal deliberations confirmed that the timeline is moving back to allow market conditions to stabilise.

When OpenAI submitted its confidential registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 8, the company explicitly noted that its timing remained flexible. According to data from the prediction platform Kalshi, traders have sharply adjusted their expectations, now placing a 59 per cent probability that OpenAI will officially announce its IPO by March 1, 2027. The platform data indicates the odds climb to 73 per cent for an announcement by June 2027, while the chance of a listing happening before January 1 stands at just 33 per cent.

What Does The Delay Mean For Investors In India?

D-Street is set to factor in this major development when the stock market opens on June 29. The news is expected to turn investor sentiment cautious, as Indian equity markets and technology-focused mutual funds adjust to a broader tech-led global cooling period.

Indian retail investors who rely on international feeder funds or exchange-traded funds pegged to global tech indices are likely to see short-term portfolio corrections as AI-linked stocks experience a valuation reality check. On a broader scale, domestic AI-linked startups that were hoping to leverage a blockbuster OpenAI public debut to justify sky-high valuations of their own may face a temporary cooling period.