What It Means That OpenAI Now Makes More From Businesses and Sees a 2027 IPO — November 5, 2026
· CompaniesAutomation
Flash edition: OpenAI says most of its revenue now comes from businesses and it could be IPO-ready in 2027. What to check before your next AI renewal.
Flash edition. This adds to this morning's Radar. OpenAI says it now makes more from businesses than from consumers, and that it thinks it'll be ready to go public in 2027. If you buy AI, the most useful line from its president is a different one: in the first half of this year, in coding, "we weren't even in the conversation."
What happened
OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on November 4, at a Wall Street Journal conference in Napa, California, that most of the company's revenue now comes from enterprise sales, according to Reuters. Asked whether OpenAI will be ready for an IPO next year, he said, "I think so." He didn't give a date.
The WSJ reports that he called the first half "pretty rough" and described a "revenue inflection" in the third quarter. According to a FourWeekMBA transcript, Brockman cited 70% quarterly growth in annualized revenue, with the enterprise side doubling. Those numbers came from a conference stage, with no dollar figures and no audit. He also mentioned what he described as a previously unannounced deal with JPMorgan Chase, covering Codex and knowledge work. We haven't found confirmation from the bank.
Why it matters
OpenAI and Anthropic now live off the same thing: winning enterprise contracts. That's why OpenAI went as far as offering discounts of up to 90% to its rival's customers. Reuters also says Anthropic is likely to list before year-end, and its filing already warns that it can change prices, limits and models.
The practical takeaway is speed. Within months, OpenAI went from not counting in coding to doubling its enterprise business in a single quarter, by its own president's account. When the order shifts that fast, signing a three-year deal with a single vendor is a bet. Even its star example reflects that: JPMorganChase is also listed as a partner in Anthropic's Project Glasswing.
For your company
- Sign short. If you're renewing this quarter, ask for 12 months with pricing and limits in writing, not 36. With two vendors fighting for accounts, it's worth asking.
- Keep 20 real cases. Pick 20 tasks from your main process, with the correct answer for each, and run them through two models every quarter. Log errors and cost per task.
- Ask what switching costs. How many days would it take to move that process to another model? If nobody knows, that's your first risk.
On the AI First ladder, this matters most when you move from INTEGRATED to UNATTENDED: if nobody reviews each result and you change models without those tests, your customer will find the error.
Frequently asked questions
When will OpenAI go public?
There's no date. Brockman only said "I think so" when asked if it would be ready in 2027. We report this for what it means to OpenAI's customers; it isn't investment advice.
How much does OpenAI make from businesses?
It hasn't said. Brockman described a majority, with no percentage or dollar figure. According to FourWeekMBA, the CFO had already told investors as much in August.
Does anything change today if I already pay for ChatGPT?
No. He didn't announce any changes to prices or plans. What changes is your position when you negotiate your next renewal.