# OpenAI sees an IPO as a funding option, not a finish line

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/openai-sees-an-ipo-as-a-funding-option-not-a-finish-line/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Sarah Friar](https://realalpha.app/builders/sarah-friar/) · Sarah Friar is CFO of OpenAI. · Leads OpenAI's finance as CFO; previously oversaw Square's 2015 IPO and helped take Nextdoor public as CEO.
- Host: [Chamath Palihapitiya](https://realalpha.app/people/chamath-palihapitiya/) · Founder & CEO, Social Capital · Led Facebook's growth team; his firm backed Slack and AI chipmaker Groq.
- Host: [Jason Calacanis](https://realalpha.app/people/jason-calacanis/) · Founder & CEO, LAUNCH · Early Uber angel; sold Weblogs Inc. to AOL; hosts This Week in Startups.
- Host: [David Sacks](https://realalpha.app/people/david-sacks/) · Co-founder & partner, Craft Ventures · PayPal's first COO, founded Yammer; White House AI & crypto czar 2025–26.
- Host: [David Friedberg](https://realalpha.app/people/david-friedberg/) · CEO, Ohalo · Founded The Climate Corporation, sold to Monsanto for about $1.1B in 2013.
- Show: All-In
- Episode: [OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar: IPO, AI Rivalries, New Device, and Spending $100B+ on Compute](https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/), Jun 2, 2026
- Moment: 0:46 to 2:57 of the episode (2 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/openai-sees-an-ipo-as-a-funding-option-not-a-finish-line/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/?t=46

## Quote

> “**No one remembers who went first**, Google or Yahoo, Lyft or Uber.”
> — [Sarah Friar](https://realalpha.app/builders/sarah-friar/) at [2:33](https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/?t=153) · All-In

## Takeaways

1. An IPO is another way to raise capital, not a destination.
2. OpenAI raised $122 billion to give itself flexibility.
3. Friar says the market rewards durable companies, not first movers.

## About this segment

Sarah Friar says an IPO is a milestone, not a destination, and argues against treating the listing order as a race. She says durable companies matter more than who goes public first.

From “OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar: IPO, AI Rivalries, New Device, and Spending $100B+ on Compute”, Jun 2, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[0:49](https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/?t=49) the Wall Street Journal, that the perception is that there's an advantage to IPO-ing earlier if you're an AI company. So now we know SpaceX is going. And then the question is, when are OpenAI and Anthropic going to go? And I'm curious, how do you think about that? Do you think there is a little bit of a race on? Or you haven't made a decision about that yet? In the end, an IPO, I say this to the team all the time, it's a milestone.

[1:17](https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/?t=77) It is not a destination. Do not run your company as if that's some sort of destination. It's just another way to fundraise. We just did, you heard me on the sizzle reel, raise $122 billion in March. And that was to give ourselves maximum flexibility. I feel like my job as a CFO is create optionality for this, not just this company, but just this era that we're living in. Sorry, Sarah, was that point in fundraising, is that the biggest private republic up until the SpaceX IPO?

[1:51](https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/?t=111) It is. It is by orders of magnitude. it. I think the largest IPO to date was there, Sadio Ramko, which was about $30 billion. So it is actually incredible that you're going to have potentially three IPOs at a scale that will be bigger even than 2001. That time frame, there was a lot that went on in the market too. But the market has grown. And by the way, the other thing going on in the market is like, if you look at buybacks, M&A, and so on, it's actually a lot of capital that keeps being returned back to shareholders and cash. So there is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines. But in the spirit of like the question, David, I think in the end you want to, you'll be measured, right? It's the, in the end, the market is a weighing machine, not a popularity machine. No one remembers who went first, Google or Yahoo, Lyft or Uber. And I say that not because whether I want to be first

[2:42](https://realalpha.app/v/TjrShuj_Zsg/?t=162) or second, but I just think it, you know, the press loves a bit of drama, but in the end, we're going to have to build big, sustainable, durable companies. And fundraising will be a key component of doing exactly that. Sarah, breaking news. Oh my God, so many people coming at me.