OpenAI announced it has filed a confidential S-1 registration for an initial public offering, joining rival Anthropic in the race to go public. The ChatGPT maker’s move comes days before SpaceX’s expected $1 trillion-plus stock market debut, marking a pivotal moment for technology companies with significant Los Angeles-area operations.

“We recently submitted a confidential S-1,” OpenAI said in a post on X. “We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company.” The company added that the filing “gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”

OpenAI’s valuation soared to $852 billion in March after raising $122 billion in fresh capital to fuel its AI development and the extensive data center infrastructure required to run those systems. Primary rival Anthropic, which filed for its own IPO on June 1, was valued at $952 billion in its most recent funding round.

The IPO filings underscore the massive capital requirements of the AI industry. Both companies are investing heavily in physical data center infrastructure and cloud computing capacity. For Los Angeles, where both companies maintain operations and talent pools, the public offerings could inject significant capital into the local tech ecosystem.

The AI investment surge has implications beyond the tech sector. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, in his first testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, called AI “perhaps the most significant change in our economy in my adult lifetime.” Warsh noted that the U.S. is at the forefront of AI technologies, with both human capital and investor capital concentrated domestically.

“This is a benefit broadly to our economy,” Warsh said, while cautioning that AI technologies “offer threats when they find their way into adversary’s hands.”

The SpaceX IPO, set to be the largest in history with plans to raise up to $75 billion, along with the OpenAI and Anthropic filings, represent a convergence of trillion-dollar-scale companies entering public markets. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is also heavily involved in AI through its xAI business.

For investors and employees at these companies, the IPOs represent the first opportunity to trade shares publicly. The timing of OpenAI’s actual market debut remains uncertain, with the company noting it may be “a while” before trading begins.

Sources: NBC Los Angeles, NBC LA – Anthropic IPO, Fox Business – Fed Chair on AI