OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence company, structured as OpenAI Group PBC (a for-profit public benefit corporation) controlled by the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation, best known for creating ChatGPT and the GPT model family. It has grown from a 2015 research lab into one of the world's most valuable private companies, central to the global generative AI boom. This page updates automatically every day: the timeline grows as news breaks, and the analysis refreshes with it.
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HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, United States
LeaderSam Altman
Funding / valuation$852B post-money valuation after closing a $122B round, March 2026; reportedly targeting ~$1T for a possible late-2026/2027 IPO
Flagship modelsGPT-5.6 (Sol/Terra/Luna), ChatGPT, Codex, Sora 2
🌾 Aura's Take (AI summary, refreshed daily): OpenAI sits at a strange inflection point: commercially dominant yet structurally fragile. Revenue is real and growing fast, enterprise and coding tools especially, but the company still burns tens of billions a year and won't be cash-flow positive until 2030. For people trying to earn with AI, the signal is clear: the money is shifting from consumer chat novelty toward agentic coding and enterprise workflows, which is where OpenAI itself is now leaning hardest. The recent departure of its No. 2 executive and a thin bench around Altman suggest execution risk heading into a possible trillion-dollar IPO. We would not bet a business entirely on any single OpenAI product staying stable; deprecation cycles are brutal and pricing power still resides with OpenAI, not its users. The opportunity is genuine, but treat OpenAI as infrastructure to build on cautiously, diversify across model providers, and expect continued volatility in tools, pricing, and governance as the IPO approaches.
This timeline grows automatically as news breaks. 10 events on record.
2026-06-08OpenAI confidentially files a draft S-1 with the SEC, its first formal step toward a public listing.
2026-05-18A jury dismisses Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI over its for-profit restructuring on statute-of-limitations grounds.
2026-03-31OpenAI closes a record $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation, co-led by SoftBank.
2025-10-28OpenAI completes its restructuring into OpenAI Group PBC, a for-profit public benefit corporation controlled by the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation, which holds a roughly $130B stake; Microsoft holds about 27%.
2025-08-07GPT-5 launches as a unified model system for ChatGPT and developers, emphasizing efficiency over brute-force scale.
2024-12-01OpenAI launches the Sora video model and the o1 reasoning model, expanding beyond text-based chat.
2023-11-17OpenAI's board fires CEO Sam Altman in a surprise move; he is reinstated five days later after employee and investor pressure.
2022-11-30OpenAI releases ChatGPT, a conversational product that catalyzes the global AI boom.
2019-03-11OpenAI creates a 'capped-profit' subsidiary to attract investment while Sam Altman becomes CEO.
2015-12-11OpenAI is founded in Delaware as a nonprofit AI research lab, backed by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and others.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns and controls OpenAI?
OpenAI operates as OpenAI Group PBC, a for-profit public benefit corporation, following an October 2025 restructuring. The nonprofit OpenAI Foundation retains control and holds a stake valued around $130 billion, while Microsoft holds roughly a 27% ownership position.
Is OpenAI going public?
OpenAI confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the SEC in June 2026 but has not set a final timeline. Reports suggest CFO Sarah Friar has pushed for a 2027 listing while Sam Altman has floated a valuation above $1 trillion as a condition, so timing remains uncertain.
How much is OpenAI worth?
OpenAI's most recent disclosed private valuation is $852 billion, set by a $122 billion funding round that closed in March 2026 and was co-led by SoftBank alongside Andreessen Horowitz and other investors. IPO valuation targets as high as $1 trillion have been reported.
Is OpenAI profitable?
No. OpenAI is generating over $2 billion in monthly revenue and roughly $25 billion in annualized revenue as of early 2026, but it remains cash-flow negative, with projected burn of about $27 billion in 2026 rising to roughly $63 billion in 2027, and is not expected to turn cash-flow positive until 2030.
What is OpenAI's relationship with Microsoft?
Microsoft is OpenAI's largest strategic investor and cloud partner, holding roughly a 27% stake built since 2019. Under a renegotiated 2026 agreement, OpenAI's revenue-share payments to Microsoft are capped at $38 billion through 2030, while Microsoft retains resale rights to OpenAI's models through 2032.
