OpenAI president Greg Brockman says company could be IPO ready in 2027

OpenAI might be heading for Wall Street, just not this year.

Co-founder and president Greg Brockman said the company would be ready for an initial public offering in 2027. He credited growing enterprise revenue for that confidence.

He made the comments at a Wall Street Journal technology conference in Napa, California, on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. An interviewer asked whether OpenAI would be IPO-ready next year. Brockman’s answer was brief.

“I think so.”

The enterprise pivot is doing the heavy lifting

Brockman’s pitch centered on corporate customers. OpenAI has been gaining ground in the enterprise market, a segment where rival Anthropic had already built a strong position.

The numbers behind that push are substantial. Enterprise customers made up more than 40% of OpenAI’s revenue as of April 2026.

At the Napa event, Brockman indicated that the company’s revenue now comes primarily from enterprise sales.

Growth has also accelerated. OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate reportedly jumped 70% in the third quarter of 2026.

Enterprise sales more than doubled during that same quarter. Newer products drove much of the gain, including GPT-5.6 Sol and ChatGPT Work.

The road to a listing so far

OpenAI has already taken concrete steps toward going public. The company filed a confidential draft S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2026.

Since then, OpenAI concluded that a 2026 listing would come too soon. Its focus shifted to 2027 instead.

Plenty remains undecided. OpenAI has not set a listing date, an exchange, or an offering price.

Meanwhile, the private fundraising picture has been bumpier. The company’s targeted private round has shrunk amid challenging market conditions.

Even so, OpenAI has kept a valuation in excess of $1 trillion.

Anthropic may get there first

The competitive backdrop adds pressure. Anthropic is expected to complete its own IPO before the end of 2026, with a proposed ticker of ANT.

If that timeline holds, OpenAI’s chief rival would hit public markets roughly a year ahead of it.

Both companies are also chasing the same customers. Anthropic made inroads with businesses early, and OpenAI’s recent enterprise surge looks, at least in part, like a response to that.

What this means

For investors, the clearest signal is that OpenAI wants to be judged as a business software company, not a consumer app. Enterprise revenue becoming its primary source is the story it appears to be building for public market buyers.

That story has supporting data. A 70% jump in run rate and more than doubled enterprise sales in a single quarter are the kind of figures that make underwriters smile politely in meetings.

There are also reasons for caution. Brockman said “I think so,” not “we will.” No date, exchange, or price has been set, and the company already pushed its timeline once after concluding 2026 was too early.

The shrinking private fundraising target is another detail worth tracking.