OpenAI has taken a concrete step toward going public, selecting two of Wall Street’s most prominent law firms to guide its IPO preparations, according to The Information. The company has chosen Cooley and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a pairing that signals serious intent and considerable firepower for what could be one of the most consequential public offerings in tech history.
The Information’s report carries real weight here. Retaining outside counsel is one of the first formal moves a company makes when it shifts from IPO talk to IPO action. This isn’t a press release. It’s infrastructure.
Why These Two Firms
The choice of firms is deliberate and tells a story on its own.
Cooley is the go-to law firm for high-growth tech companies navigating public markets. Its client list reads like a Silicon Valley hall of fame. The firm has shepherded dozens of major tech IPOs and is deeply embedded in the startup ecosystem. If you’re a tech company going public, Cooley is a natural call.
Wachtell is a different beast entirely. It’s one of the most elite corporate law firms in the United States, known for complex transactions, governance, and high-stakes deal work. Its involvement suggests OpenAI is thinking carefully about its corporate structure, shareholder rights, and the governance complexities that come with its unusual nonprofit-to-for-profit conversion.
Together, the two firms cover the full spectrum: tech market expertise plus sophisticated structural and governance counsel.
The Bigger Picture
OpenAI’s IPO ambitions have been an open secret for some time, but the path to public markets is anything but straightforward. The company is in the middle of restructuring from a nonprofit-controlled entity to a for-profit public benefit corporation, a shift that requires untangling complex stakeholder relationships and satisfying regulators in multiple states.
OpenAI’s last fundraising round, completed in late 2024, valued the company at roughly $157 billion. That valuation was achieved as a private company with significant structural caveats. An IPO would require the company to open its books, establish standard equity structures, and submit to the scrutiny of public markets and the SEC.
What stands out here is the timing. OpenAI is pursuing its restructuring and IPO prep simultaneously, while also navigating a highly competitive AI landscape and managing the ongoing legal dispute with co-founder Elon Musk. Doing all of this in parallel is ambitious, to put it mildly.
What to Watch For
With legal teams now formally in place, here’s what the next chapter likely looks like:
- Restructuring completion: OpenAI must finalize its conversion to a for-profit structure before any public offering can proceed. California and Delaware regulators are involved.
- Underwriter selection: Law firms come before investment banks in the IPO process. Expect announcements of lead underwriters next.
- Financial disclosures: Pre-IPO, OpenAI will need to provide audited financials. Revenue figures and the cost of running frontier AI models at scale will finally become public record.
- Governance framework: How OpenAI handles its board structure, Sam Altman’s equity stake, and the role of its nonprofit parent will be critical to investor reception.
Why It Matters
An OpenAI IPO wouldn’t just be a big tech listing. It would be a defining moment for the AI industry. Public markets would gain a direct stake in frontier AI development for the first time at this scale. It would also set a precedent for how AI companies are valued, governed, and held accountable.
For practitioners and investors tracking the AI space, the message is clear: OpenAI is moving. Slowly, carefully, and with top-tier legal support. But it’s moving.
More details are available at The Information.