According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI has held informal talks with several Wall Street banks and hired key financial experts, including Chief Accountant Ajmere Dale, in preparation for an IPO in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company is concerned that Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI employees and making strides with its Claude model, might preemptively go public after raising over $10 billion. Both companies face challenges such as building AI infrastructure and litigation. CEO Sam Altman admitted to having mixed feelings: he felt no excitement about becoming the CEO of a publicly traded company, but an IPO would offer some benefits for OpenAI itself.