If OpenAI is to float on the stock market this year, it needs to start turning a profit

<p>The poster child of the AI boom, valued at $850bn, needs to show strategic discipline after ‘casting its net too wide’ </p><p>If OpenAI is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/30/openai-1tn-stock-market-float-ipo">going to float this year</a>, it has to get serious about its business model. The wow factor around the US company – the poster child of an AI industry boom that has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/30/ai-bubble-mozilla">stoked fears of a stock market bubble</a> – has been long established, but when will the profits come? The party can’t go on for ever.</p><p>The developer of ChatGPT is one of the biggest startups in the world and is now valued at $850bn (£645bn). Meanwhile, it is reportedly <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/20/openai-resets-spend-expectations-targets-around-600-billion-by-2030.html">spending $600bn</a> on infrastructure (the amount it invests in datacentres and chips to power its AI models) by 2030. At least this is a reduction on an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/10/sam-altman-can-openai-profits-keep-pace">initial estimate of $1.4tn</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/31/openai-stock-market-flotation-profit">Continue reading...</a>