OpenAI president confirms 2027 listing: corporate customers have become the main revenue driver, but the financing target has shrunk from 30 billion to 20 billion

The Zhitong Finance App learned that OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on Wednesday that most of the company's current revenue comes from sales to corporate customers, and he believes the company will be ready to go public in 2027.

Brockman said the AI lab has been increasing sales efforts to companies to compete with rival Anthropic, which may go public before the end of the year, including promoting its Codex smart device.

The AI executive made these remarks at a tech conference in Napa, California. When asked on stage if OpenAI will be ready for an IPO next year, he said, “I think so.”

OpenAI has been stepping up financing to capitalize on its recent growth after delaying its IPO plans.

The road to financing is bumpy

OpenAI's path to financing is becoming bumpy. As some investors reduced subscription amounts, OpenAI had previously lowered its ongoing private equity funding target from US$30 billion to US$20 billion, a reduction of one-third.

The difficulties come from three levels. First, AI track valuation correction. AI-related technology stocks fell sharply last month, and market questions about the return on AI investment heated up, casting a shadow over the IPO prospects of OpenAI and Anthropic. Even trickier, rival Anthropic is expected to be the first to go public before the end of the year, competing with OpenAI for the same amount of money and attention. Second, there has been a sharp increase in monetization pressure. The token price has dropped to about $0.59 per million, down 35% since the end of June. OpenAI had to implement shared quotas for ChatGPT and Codex on December 31. The new deal covered Plus, Pro, and Business packages. Instant mode conversations were not included, and the fee structure was clearly tightened. Third, capital expenditure is huge. To support cutting-edge models, companies must continue to invest heavily, and the open market is not necessarily willing to pay for it.

To this end, OpenAI has set its sights on the Middle East. CEO Sam Ultrman personally went to Abu Dhabi to meet with the Crown Prince and signed contracts with Abu Dhabi National Petroleum Corporation, Mubadala, MGX and other institutions to seek fixed financing from sovereign funds; he also made a low-key visit to South Korea to meet with Samsung executives and SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI was previously in talks with a number of UAE funds, including MGX, hoping to find anchor investors for its $30 billion funding round.