OpenAI's president says most revenue is now enterprise and an IPO could come in 2027
Greg Brockman says businesses now bring in most of OpenAI's revenue, and he answered 'I think so' when asked about readiness for going public.
The short version
- Brockman spoke at a tech conference on November 4, local time.
- Most OpenAI revenue now comes from enterprise customers, not individual subscribers.
- Asked about being ready for an IPO, he said 'I think so.'
- OpenAI is expanding in enterprise, competing with Anthropic and promoting Codex.
- No revenue figure was given, and a stage answer is not a filing.
Why it matters
If businesses pay most of the bills, OpenAI's product effort is likely to follow them, toward agents and coding tools. Two vendors chasing the same corporate buyers can also mean more trials and better offers for you, so it pays to ask what they will commit to in writing.
What Brockman said
OpenAI president Greg Brockman said at a tech conference on November 4, local time, that most of the company's revenue now comes from enterprise customers. That means businesses paying for OpenAI's tools, rather than individuals paying for a personal subscription. As 36Kr reported, no revenue figure came with the claim.
He was also asked whether OpenAI is ready for an initial public offering, or IPO, the moment a company's shares first go on sale on a stock market. His answer, according to the report, was "I think so." The headline puts the timing at 2027.
A contest with Anthropic
Brockman also said OpenAI is speeding up its enterprise expansion. That includes competing with Anthropic, another AI lab, for corporate clients, and promoting Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, which is an AI tool that can work on programming tasks with some independence.
The picture is of two companies going after the same buyers: businesses that sign larger, longer contracts than most individual users do.
How much weight to give it
This is one outlet's newsflash of a conference answer. It is not a regulatory filing, and it gives no revenue numbers, so the claim cannot be checked against anything yet. Whether Anthropic is on a similar timeline is still open.
Our own reading, not Brockman's words: when two vendors compete for the same corporate customers, buyers often see more free trials, sales attention and bundled offers.
What to do with it
If you run a small business, pick one repeating task this month, such as sorting email, and pilot an AI tool on it. Pricing was not stated in the report, so check the vendor's pricing page.
Job seekers and students can note that employers are the paying customers, which makes one real agent project on a résumé a useful signal.
What to watch
- Will OpenAI publish revenue figures or file anything that backs up the enterprise claim?
- Will Anthropic respond with its own enterprise or IPO signals?
- Do Codex and agent offers for businesses come with clear pricing?
Try it
Pick one repeating task at work, like email sorting, and write down what you would need in writing from an AI vendor before piloting it.
Sources and links
- Reporting36Kr: the article we sourced
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Listen to the daily showsFirst reported by 36Kr · Read the original. Written by the SI Agent News Desk from the reporting above.Written with AI from the source above. Every number is checked against the source. Spot a mistake? Corrections.