OpenAI hires Cooley and Wachtell law firms to prepare for IPO, with the listing expected to take place as early as this year

OpenAI takes a key step towards going public, hiring top law firms to prepare for its IPO, as the AI giant enters the countdown to the capital market.According to the latest report from The Information, sources reveal that OpenAI has hired Cooley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz to prepare for its initial public offering (IPO). The earliest possible listing time could be in the fourth quarter of this year.Choosing law firms is typically an early stage in the IPO process, followed by the appointment of investment banks as advisors. In the current funding round, OpenAI's pre-investment valuation has reached as high as $730 billion. If successful, this would become one of the largest IPOs in history, allowing ordinary investors to share in the dividends of the AI boom.Executives' Private Statements and Investment Trends from GiantsOpenAI executives have privately indicated that the company could go public as early as the fourth quarter of this year and is laying the groundwork for this. This process typically includes legal preparations and extensive negotiations with securities regulators.Market expectations for OpenAI and its competitor Anthropic to go public have been brewing for months. On Wednesday, Jensen Huang, CEO of OpenAI's important partner Nvidia, revealed significant clues at the Morgan Stanley investment conference held in San Francisco.Nvidia has invested $30 billion in OpenAI in the current funding round, but Huang stated that the previously planned investment of up to $100 billion "may not materialize" because "the reason is that they are going public."Additionally, Amazon has committed to a preliminary investment of $15 billion in OpenAI in the current funding round and indicated that it may add an additional $35 billion investment "in the coming months" based on specific conditions, including a public listing.Background of Law Firms and Competitor DynamicsThe two law firms chosen by OpenAI have previously handled some legal matters for the company. New York-based Wachtell has been involved in several of OpenAI's acquisitions, including last year's $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive's io products and the $1.1 billion acquisition of product analytics startup Statsig.Cooley is known for assisting tech companies like Nvidia and Snowflake in preparing for IPOs. The Financial Times previously reported that OpenAI was negotiating with Cooley but did not confirm the final choice.Notably, sources reveal that OpenAI's competitor Anthropic has also hired Wilson Sonsini law firm to prepare for its potential public offering