Explore how to invest indirectly in OpenAI stock through a public company before the OpenAI IPO. Get access to select pre-IPO startups at Equitybee.
Recent OpenAI Stock IPO News
05/16/2023: Sam Altman’s first congressional hearing on A.I.
05/10/2023: Sam Altman to testify before Congress (Tues 05/16)
04/28/2023: OpenAI closes $300M share sale at $27B-29B valuation
04/18/2023: Elon Musk plans ‘TruthGPT’ A.I. to rival OpenAI
03/24/2023: The secret history of Musk, Altman, and OpenAI
03/01/2023: ChatGPT Now Available Integrate in Apps
01/23/2023: Microsoft announces investment in OpenAI
01/05/2023: OpenAI Talking to Investors About $29 Billion Valuation
12/15/2022: OpenAI projects $1 billion in revenue by 2024
What is OpenAI?
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory based in San Francisco, California, with an additional office in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 2015 by a group of influential tech including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, and Wojciech Zaremba.
The company is best known for developing the ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) AI language model with over 175 billion parameters and GPT-4 with about 1 trillion parameters. These tools have a wide range of applications, from language translation to generating creative writing.
OpenAI started as a non-profit organization focused on promoting friendly AI for the benefit of humanity. But in 2019, it launched a for-profit arm called OpenAI LP to pursue commercial applications of AI.
OpenAI’s secondary products and services include AI consulting, advising organizations on integrating AI into their operations, training programs for developers, and conferences and workshops for AI researchers and enthusiasts.
Key people at OpenAI include its current CEO, Sam Altman, who previously served as the president of the startup accelerator Y Combinator, and Greg Brockman, who serves as the company’s chief technology officer. Other notable figures include Ilya Sutskever, a leading researcher in deep learning, and Dario Amodei, who oversees research on safety, security, and ethics in AI.
The organization has also collaborated on research and development projects with several top academic institutions, including MIT, UC Berkeley, and Stanford.
OpenAI claims to be actively involved in promoting AI’s ethical and safe development and has been a vocal advocate for responsible AI research and development practices.
Here’s an excellent demonstration video of the GPT-4 capabilities:
Is OpenAI Stock Publicly Traded?
No. OpenAI is a private company.
Who Owns OpenAI?
OpenAI is a privately held company. Its ownership is primarily made up of its founders, investors, and employees.
OpenAI was initially founded as a non-profit research organization in December 2015. But in 2019, OpenAI announced that it was creating a for-profit entity to pursue its goal of developing advanced artificial intelligence technologies.
The new for-profit entity, OpenAI LP, is owned by the original non-profit organization and a group of investors.
The investors in OpenAI include Microsoft, Tiger Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Reid Hoffman, Thrive, K2, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, and LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue. Other individual investors include Sam Altman (Helion Energy investor), Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, and Wojciech Zaremba.
Elon Musk was also a founder but left the organization in February 2018.
OpenAI has not disclosed the company’s exact ownership structure or its investors’ specific ownership stakes.
OpenAI Valuation
Microsoft invested $11 billion in OpenAI in January 2023. That funding event raised the OpenAi valuation to $28 billion.
Tech Crunch reported in late April 2023 that multiple high-profile venture capital firms invested an additional $300 million into OpenAI at a $27-$29 billion valuation.
When is the OpenAI IPO Date?
The OpenAI IPO date is currently unknown.
With the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT to the public in late 2022 and GPT-4 in 2023, interest in artificial intelligence technologies has surpassed blockchain and cryptocurrency as the future-of-technology-de-jour.
There’s been limited speculation that an OpenAI IPO is imminent. However, with the recent buzz surge in AI, pure-play companies like OpenAI may take advantage by raising money through a public offering when market conditions improve.
If the company decides to pursue a public listing, watch for reporting about exploring a possible IPO with investment banks or a confidential S-1 filing with the SEC.
Bookmark this page for the latest developments.
What is the OpenAI Stock Symbol? OpenAI Ticker?
There is no OpenAI stock symbol yet because it is a private company.
Here is one OpenAI ticker suggestion that appears to be available in the U.S.:
- OAI
What is the OpenAI Stock Price?
A public OpenAI stock price does not exist because the company is private.
Can You Access OpenAI Shares via Pre-IPO Marketplaces?
The author has not seen evidence of OpenAI stock availability on prominent pre-IPO investing platforms.
Shares may be offered for sale by early investors or employees before the IPO, especially if the company raises more venture capital or decreases IPO deal flow due to market uncertainty.
However, most of OpenAI’s investors are billionaires and are not primarily in this for profit.
The SEC requires pre-IPO investors to be accredited with a net worth over $1 million (excluding primary residence) or income exceeding $200,000 (or $300,000 with a spouse).
Check out our list of top pre-IPO investing platforms for current share availability across platforms.
How to Invest in OpenAI Stock
Since OpenAI is a private company, it is challenging to become an equity owner today.
However, you can increase your chances of early equity ownership or obtain shares in the IPO by taking the actions outlined below.
Accredited investors will have an easier time via pre-IPO investing platforms.
1. Buy Microsoft Stock
Microsoft invested $11 billion into OpenAI in January 2023. Individual investors who own Microsoft stock now own a small portion of OpenAI.
Though the equity owned by any one investor is minuscule, you’ll nevertheless be investing in OpenAI indirectly.
If the valuation of OpenAI increases above the $29 billion valuation that Microsoft’s investment established, Microsoft’s stock and investors will benefit.
2. Access OpenAI stock via pre-IPO investing platforms
The author has not seen evidence of OpenAI stock being available on pre-IPO platforms.
Investors can monitor pre-IPO investing platforms such as EquityZen, Equitybee, Forge Global, and Linqto for share availability.
Expect to pay at least a $10,000 investment minimum. In some cases, the minimum investment is much higher.
Signing up for online access to pre-IPO data, deal alerts, and expressing interest in currently unavailable startups is free.
Non-accredited retail investors can bypass the accreditation requirement to own pre-IPO companies by owning the Fundrise Innovation Fund or the ARK Venture Fund via Titan Invest.
However, individual pre-IPO companies cannot be selected, and OpenAI stock is currently not present in either portfolio.
Please note: This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links on AccessIPOs.com. All opinions are my own.
3. Buy stock during OpenAI IPO through a participating broker
OpenAI conducted a private funding round in January 2023, providing sufficient funding for operations for the foreseeable future.
Venture capital firms and individual investors have invested in OpenAI and may seek to liquidate ownership in the coming years when market conditions favor IPOs.
2023 was looking to be a more promising year for IPOs until the Silicon Valley Bank failure. We do not expect IPO volume to pick up until late 2023 or 2024.
AI has surpassed cryptography and blockchain as the hottest tech industry, and OpenAI is at the forefront. Investors will line up to invest in the next group of AI-related startups, including Scale AI and data storage company Databricks.
IPO investors may find opportunities to invest during the IPO when it arrives — acquiring shares at the IPO price the day before the stock begins trading on the open market.
Once a privilege of the affluent clientele of Wall Street, IPO access has become increasingly accessible to retail investors.
The following online brokers give customers free access to IPOs, even with low account balances:
Exclusive access to highly sought-after IPOs may be restricted based on the type of brokerage accounts you hold and which brokerages have secured exclusive rights.
TradeStation has a longer track record of accessing more than 300 IPOs and secondary offerings via its partnership with ClickIPO.
But Robinhood and SoFi Invest have the advantage of Silicon Valley networks and a history of getting allocations for high-profile IPOs.
Read the S-1 filings to find mentions of these online brokers to find opportunities.
Check out this list of best brokers for IPO investing to learn more about IPO access for retail investors.
4. Buy the stock after the IPO
Most investors will not acquire pre-IPO shares or receive an allocation during the IPO.
Waiting for stocks to become publicly traded before investing in them has its advantages. The IPO provides investors with access to several sets of financials after a few quarters of reporting, whereas pre-IPO investing has limited financials available for review.
IPO stock prices typically rise with high-demand companies. You can benefit if you’re in early and sell when the price overheats.
But without IPO access, post-IPO investors may be tempted to acquire shares at inflated prices.
In 2021, for example, both Rivian and Robinhood became high-flying IPO stocks. But six months after the IPO, both stocks were more than 80% below their price peak.
Stock price declines after IPOs can be excellent entry points.
Avoid purchasing overvalued shares immediately after the IPO, as they tend to experience a decline in value following lockup expirations and quarterly earnings disappointments.
In contrast, the most disruptive companies are likely to experience higher valuations a decade from now. Be selective and patient.
Where can I find the OpenAI S-1 Filing?
OpenAI has yet to release an S-1 filing to the public. There is no evidence of a confidential S-1 filing yet.
News of a confidential or public S-1 filing would kick off the IPO process, suggesting the IPO could occur during the following two to six months.
When the company releases the S-1 filing to investors, we’ll link to and embed the document on this web page.
In the meantime, you can check out the most recent S-1 filings in our S-1 filings feed.
Conclusion
Investors become interested in buying companies riding extraordinary macroeconomic trends (AI).
But acquiring ownership in OpenAI pre-IPO is challenging for retail investors, particularly for non-accredited ones.
Pre-IPO investing platforms have opened more opportunities for retail investors. But venture capital investing is still mostly reserved for accredited investors.
Investors may face difficulties in obtaining pre-IPO shares.
Temper your expectations if you’re inclined to pursue pre-IPO equity in OpenAI. You’ll likely need to wait for the IPO, which could be years away.
Good luck if you wish to buy OpenAI stock before the IPO. Invest in pre-IPO and IPO companies at your own risk.
* Disclosure: The web page contains affiliate links from our partners. If a reader opens an account or buys a service from a link in this article, we may be compensated at no additional cost to the reader. Opening an account with a broker that provides access to IPOs does not guarantee the customer allocations of specific IPOs. The author is long HOOD, RIVN, Fundrise Innovation Fund, and ARK Titan Venture Fund.
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