OpenAI May Delay Its IPO, and SpaceX Is the Warning

The most anticipated AI listing may be slipping. A report says OpenAI is considering pushing its IPO to next year, spooked by how poorly SpaceX has traded since its own debut and by the recent volatility in AI stocks. It is a sign that even the strongest AI names are getting cautious about public markets.

The SpaceX example is the spook. After a high-profile listing, SpaceX has been a weak performer, falling toward its lowest levels and dragging on sentiment for richly valued tech debuts. For OpenAI, watching another marquee name struggle right after going public is a cautionary tale. No company wants to list into a market that is punishing exactly its kind of stock.

The timing makes it worse. This week brought a hot inflation report, a hawkish Fed, a five-day slide in the Nasdaq, and chip stocks selling off on fears AI spending is peaking. Listing into that backdrop risks a weak open and a bruised valuation, so waiting for calmer conditions is the rational call. Markets reward patience when the tape is this jittery.

It also reshuffles the AI IPO race. Anthropic has already filed confidentially and is racing toward an autumn listing, so an OpenAI delay could let its rival go public first and set the benchmark valuation for the whole sector. Being first carries risk, but it also lets a company define the terms others are measured against. The order of these listings matters.

The honest caveat is that this is a report, not a decision. Plans can change quickly, a delay is not a cancellation, and a stronger market later in the year could put the IPO right back on the table. Companies float and reconsider timing all the time, especially private ones with no pressure to rush. What it really signals is nervousness, not retreat.

So even OpenAI, the face of the AI boom, is hesitating at the door of the public market, and the reason is what happened to the last big name through it. A possible delay, a cautionary SpaceX, and a rival moving ahead. The frothiest part of the AI trade is meeting a colder market. Watch whether OpenAI waits and whether Anthropic goes first.