OpenAI CFO privately questioned the timing of the IPO in 2026, and Altman excluded him from key financial meetings

According to market news, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman privately stated this year that he hopes the company can complete its IPO as early as the fourth quarter; CFO Sarah Friar has revealed to several colleagues that she believes the company will not be ready for an IPO until 2026, citing reasons including the required processes and organizational workload, as well as the financial risks associated with high computing power procurement commitments.

Internally, Altman has repeatedly excluded Friar from financial decisions. In recent months, he did not invite Friar to participate in discussions with a top investor regarding server procurement, with one attendee describing her absence as "notable and awkward," as she had participated in previous meetings on the same topic. Since August of last year, Friar has no longer reported directly to Altman, but instead reports to application business head Fidji Simo, breaking the norm where CFOs of large companies typically report directly to the CEO.

On the financial front, OpenAI has committed to investing over $600 billion in cloud servers over the next five years, with internal forecasts predicting that it will consume over $200 billion in cash before achieving positive cash flow. The $122 billion financing commitment announced this week primarily comes from Amazon and Nvidia, both of which are also OpenAI's cloud server and chip suppliers, creating a circular capital arrangement. Anthropic has surpassed OpenAI to become the preferred AI model for enterprises and developers, and OpenAI's revenue growth is also slowing.

Preparations for the IPO have quietly begun: OpenAI has engaged the law firms Cooley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and has had preliminary communications with the IPO teams at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Altman privately expressed a desire to go public before Anthropic, which is currently discussing its IPO plans for the fourth quarter of this year. The two executives later issued a joint statement saying they are "completely aligned on the computing power strategy."