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ChatGPT maker OpenAI<\/a> filed preliminary paperwork that would open the door to it becoming a publicly traded company, the third in a powerhouse trio of artificial intelligence companies<\/a> racing to Wall Street debuts.<\/p>\n The San Francisco-based company said Monday it has filed confidential paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. <\/p>\n \u201cWe expect it to leak so we\u2019re just announcing it,\u201d the company said in a written statement. \u201cWe have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it\u2019s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.\u201d<\/p>\n OpenAI’s move follows its rival Anthropic’s<\/a> June 1 disclosure that it is also moving toward an initial public offering of shares. Both are now following Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX<\/a>, which has started an IPO roadshow pitching itself as an AI-focused space company.<\/p>\n OpenAI CEO Sam Altman first publicly floated the possibility of an IPO last fall, describing it as the \u201cmost likely path\u201d<\/a> for the company given its size and the need for vast amounts of capital to advance its technology. <\/p>\n OpenAI began in 2015 as a nonprofit<\/a> dedicated to developing AI for the common good and is now a company valued at $852 billion.<\/p>\n Paving the way for going public was OpenAI\u2019s decision last year to reorganize its business structure and convert itself into a public benefit corporation even as it remains technically under the control of a nonprofit. <\/p>\n