OpenAI, the creator of the wildly popular AI model ChatGPT, is preparing for a public listing that could give it a market capitalisation of up to $1tn (shs3,473.43tn), according to Reuters.
If that valuation holds, the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company would be worth about 20 times the size of Uganda’s entire economy—and larger than the combined GDPs of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Uganda, which together total roughly $200bn (shs694.69tn).
Citing three unidentified sources familiar with the company’s plans, Reuters reported that OpenAI’s IPO could become one of the largest ever, potentially filing with regulators as early as the second half of 2026.
The company, which took the digital landscape by storm in November 2022, has discussed seeking to raise at least $60bn (shs208.41tn) in the offering, reported Reuters.
In a statement, an OpenAI spokesperson said: “An IPO is not our focus, so we could not possibly have set a date. We are building a durable business and advancing our mission so everyone benefits from AGI.”
AGI, or artificial general intelligence, refers to technology capable of outperforming humans in most economically valuable tasks.
OpenAI recently completed a restructuring into a more traditional corporate organisation, a move that could clear the way for a public listing.
It was most recently valued at $500bn (shs1,736.72tn) in an employee share sale. Yet the company’s ambitions require staggering sums: Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has said OpenAI plans to spend $1.4tn (shs4,862.80tn) on infrastructure for AI—an amount comparable to the combined GDP of Africa’s five largest economies.
The scale of those numbers is dizzying. While OpenAI races toward trillion-dollar territory, countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are still grappling with slow internet speeds, limited research investment and low digital literacy.
OpenAI launched in 2015 as a nonprofit. A few years later, the company overhauled its structure so that the nonprofit would have oversight and control over the for-profit arm.
The main goal of the nonprofit was to ensure that OpenAI developed AI technology safely, rather than prioritising profits like a traditional company.
Editor’s note on conversions: For clarity and context, all Ugandan Shillings (shs) figures in this article are based on recent exchange rates and should be considered approximations.
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