OpenAI is reportedly preparing for a historic IPO that could value the creator of ChatGPT at nearly $1 trillion, raising questions about AI profits, market hype, and opportunities for individual investors.
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| As OpenAI moves closer to a possible public listing, investors worldwide are debating whether the company represents the future of artificial intelligence or an overheated tech bubble. Image: FC |
FC Desk — May 23, 2026:
OpenAI appears to be moving closer to one of the most anticipated stock market events in modern technology history. Reports that the company behind ChatGPT is preparing for a public listing have triggered intense discussion across financial markets, the technology industry, and the global investment community.
If completed at the scale analysts expect, OpenAI’s initial public offering, or IPO, could become one of the largest in history, with potential valuations approaching $1 trillion. Such a figure would place the company among the world’s most valuable technology firms despite the fact that it remains unprofitable.
The development marks a turning point for the artificial intelligence industry. Until now, ordinary investors had little direct access to companies leading the generative AI revolution. OpenAI remained privately held, backed largely by institutional investors and major technology partners.
A public listing would change that dramatically.
An IPO allows a private company to sell shares to the public for the first time. In OpenAI’s case, it would mean that individual investors could potentially buy ownership in the company behind ChatGPT, one of the fastest-growing AI platforms in history.
The reported involvement of major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley signals how seriously Wall Street is taking the future of artificial intelligence.
The company’s rapid financial growth has also fueled investor excitement. OpenAI reportedly generated around $13 billion in annual revenue last year and is now earning nearly $2 billion per month as businesses and consumers increasingly adopt AI tools.
For many investors, those numbers reinforce the belief that artificial intelligence could become the defining economic sector of the next decade.
Despite its explosive growth, OpenAI is reportedly still losing money.
The main reason is the enormous cost of training and operating advanced AI systems. Running large-scale AI models requires massive computing infrastructure, advanced chips, cloud servers, and huge amounts of electricity.
As AI competition intensifies globally, companies are spending billions of dollars simply to remain competitive.
This creates a difficult question for investors: how much should a company be worth if its revenue is growing rapidly but profitability remains uncertain?
Supporters of OpenAI argue that today’s losses are temporary and similar to the early stages of companies like Amazon, which spent years prioritizing expansion over profits before eventually dominating global markets.
Critics, however, warn that AI valuations may be moving ahead of economic reality. They argue that investor enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence increasingly resembles earlier technology bubbles where expectations rose faster than sustainable business fundamentals.
Another challenge facing OpenAI is the speed of global competition.
Google continues expanding its Gemini AI ecosystem, while Chinese firms are aggressively developing lower-cost open-source models that can compete with expensive proprietary systems.
This growing competition could eventually reduce profit margins across the AI sector. If AI tools become cheaper and more widely available, maintaining trillion-dollar valuations may become more difficult.
At the same time, the AI race is becoming deeply connected to geopolitics and global technological leadership. Governments and corporations increasingly view artificial intelligence not only as a business opportunity but also as a strategic national asset.
That broader significance is one reason investors remain highly optimistic about AI companies despite financial risks.
One of the biggest questions surrounding a future OpenAI IPO is whether ordinary investors can actually make money from it.
The answer depends heavily on timing, valuation, and investor expectations.
Historically, some major technology IPOs have generated enormous long-term gains for early investors. Companies like Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA rewarded investors who believed in transformative technologies before they became dominant global businesses.
However, not every high-profile IPO succeeds. Some companies debut at inflated prices driven by hype, only to decline sharply once market enthusiasm fades.
If OpenAI enters the market near a $1 trillion valuation while still unprofitable, future gains may become harder to achieve unless the company continues delivering extraordinary growth for many years.
For individual investors, the biggest risk may be emotional investing driven by excitement around AI rather than careful financial analysis.
Experts often warn that strong technology does not automatically guarantee a good investment. A company can build revolutionary products while still being overvalued in the stock market.
For investors in Bangladesh, direct participation in a future OpenAI IPO would likely require access to international brokerage accounts that allow trading on US stock exchanges.
As global financial markets become more digitally connected, increasing numbers of international retail investors are gaining access to major American technology stocks. However, access still depends on local regulations, brokerage availability, currency restrictions, and investment knowledge.
Even if participation becomes possible, financial analysts generally advise small investors to carefully study company fundamentals rather than investing solely because of global hype.
Whether OpenAI’s future valuation proves justified or excessive, the company’s expected IPO represents a historic moment for artificial intelligence as an economic force.
AI is no longer viewed simply as a technology trend. It is increasingly shaping financial markets, labor systems, software industries, and geopolitical competition.
The excitement surrounding OpenAI reflects a broader belief that AI could transform nearly every sector of the global economy in the coming decades.
At the same time, the debate over valuation highlights growing concerns that financial markets may be entering another speculative cycle driven by technological optimism.
If OpenAI eventually reaches public markets at close to a $1 trillion valuation, investors around the world will face a difficult question: are they witnessing the rise of the next dominant technological empire, or the peak of an AI investment bubble?