The 2026 midterms haven’t changed OpenAI’s IPO plans, OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar says.
“Look, we are paid as operators to manage scenarios,” Friar said on Friday during a live interview on CNBC. “I don’t think there was something that dramatically changed for us.”
Friar referred back to OpenAI’s previous plans to target an IPO sometime next year. All eyes are on Anthropic, OpenAI’s chief rival, and whether it will forge ahead with an IPO, perhaps as soon as this month.
Democrats turned in a generational-level rout of Republicans in the midterm elections, not only flipping control of Congress but coming into the new year with healthy majorities. At the state level, Democratic candidates flipped governorships in Texas, Georgia, and Ohio after running on promises of reining in new data center development.
Friar said OpenAI, which is trying to rebrand data centers as “compute campuses,” will continue to invest in the sprawling facilities that are central to both OpenAI and the broader AI industry’s future.
“When I think about the midterms, I need to keep thinking about how do we keep investing to meet that customer demand,” she said. “It starts early with having built relationships with all of the hyperscalers, and it will continue to mean that we raise capital.”
On Thursday, OpenAI announced what it called “a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure.” Under its pledge, OpenAI said it would pay the full cost of the electricity it uses and any necessary grid improvements, do away with non-disclosure agreements with public officials (with narrow exceptions), and publish data on the jobs it expects to create.
“If the midterm means more focus on data centers and communities, we’re going to keep doing the work to get into those communities and to build trust with them,” she said.
Friar said that OpenAI’s business remains healthy. She said that in the third quarter, OpenAI’s revenue grew 70%, including a doubling of its enterprise sales. She said that OpenAI’s latest private funding round is at a $1.25 billion pre-money valuation, though she likely misspoke and meant $1.25 trillion. In March, OpenAI announced that it had closed a funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation.
“I genuinely think that is a good indication of our Q3 momentum and how that momentum carries into 2027,” Friar said.
Friar said one reason she’s excited for an IPO is because a market debut would be in line with OpenAI’s mission to ensure artificial intelligence for all.
“I personally feel very driven to put that economic value creation that’s happening into as many hands as we can,” she said. “Like, why should it just be limited to institutions?”
