OpenAI is not a publicly traded company right now so it does not have stock that anyone can buy on a stock exchange like the ones for Apple or Tesla. People often talk about its stock value as if it might go public someday or based on its private valuation which is how much investors think the whole company is worth in funding rounds. Predicting what OpenAI stock might be worth in 2030 means guessing its future company value divided by the number of shares then adjusted for things like stock splits or new issuances. Experts give a wide range of ideas from super high like over a trillion dollars in company value to much lower due to huge losses and risks. Some forecasts see it reaching 1 trillion dollars or more in valuation by 2030 if revenues hit 200 billion dollars and it dominates AI while others warn it could crash hard because of burning cash faster than almost any company ever and tough competition.[1][2][3]
To understand this prediction game start with where OpenAI stands today in late 2025. The company behind ChatGPT and tools like DALL-E has grown fast since launching in 2015 as a nonprofit then shifting to a for-profit model. Its latest funding talks aim for a valuation around 830 billion dollars if it raises 100 billion dollars more which would be a huge jump from its current peg around 500 billion dollars.[1][3] That 500 billion dollar mark came from deals like one with SoftBank making it one of the most valuable private companies ever even though it loses billions each year.[3] Revenue hit 3.7 billion dollars in 2024 jumped to 4.3 billion dollars in just the first half of 2025 but losses were massive at 13.5 billion dollars net loss and 2.5 billion dollars cash burn in that half year alone.[2] Projections say revenue could hit 12.7 billion dollars for all of 2025 a 243 percent jump showing explosive growth in paid subscriptions enterprise deals and API usage.[1]
Now think about revenue paths to 2030 because that drives valuation. Bullish views from firms like KGI Asia say OpenAI could pull in 200 billion dollars by 2030 thanks to agentic AI which means smart software agents that act on their own for tasks like booking travel or coding apps.[1][2] Agentic AI builds on current chatbots making them do real work so demand could skyrocket as businesses automate more. Another big idea is renting out computing power like Amazon Web Services does with cloud servers. Global demand for AI compute is set to explode by 2030 and OpenAI could add 50 billion dollars in revenue from that alone on top of model sales.[1] Employee stock plans hint at huge upside too with shares set to be worth 50 billion dollars total by 2030 for workers showing insiders bet on massive growth.[1] If revenue hits 100 billion dollars by 2029 as some optimistic takes predict then even an 8.3 times price to sales ratio which is low for hot tech justifies 830 billion dollars today let alone higher later.[1]
Valuation math helps here. Tech companies especially AI ones trade at high multiples of sales not profits early on. A 65 times price to sales on 12.7 billion dollars in 2025 gets to 830 billion dollars which sounds crazy but matches hype for leaders like this.[1] By 2030 if revenues reach 200 billion dollars and margins improve to over 60 percent as OpenAI forecasts then profitability kicks in with free cash flow turning positive.[2][3] Deutsche Bank charts show OpenAI plans negative free cash flow of 143 billion dollars from 2024 to 2029 more than Uber Tesla Amazon and Spotify burned combined before they profited.[3] But after that cash flow positive status could let valuation soar to 2 trillion dollars or beyond if it captures half the AI market like some dream.
Competition shapes this big time. OpenAI faces giants like Google with Gemini Microsoft backing it via Azure and Meta pushing open source Llama models for free.[2] China has Kimi K2 an open source model matching top closed ones which could become the Linux of AI undercutting paid services.[2] Open source moves fast and good enough free models might win in price sensitive places like India where subsidized pricing already squeezes margins.[2] Enterprise AI spending doubled but many firms stick at pilots with tiny gains like 50 to 70 basis points better profits by 2030 per studies.[2] If OpenAI stays ahead with breakthroughs in reasoning or multimodal AI it wins big but slip ups let rivals eat share.
Cash burn is the scariest part. OpenAI raised 73 billion dollars in 16 rounds already 40 billion dollars just this year up from 6.6 billion dollars in 2024.[2][3] It burns 2.5 billion dollars cash per half year now and needs way more for compute talent and operations.[2] HSBC says a 207 billion dollar funding gap by 2030 unless revenues ramp perfectly.[3] Talent costs hit hard with 6 billion dollars in stock comp this year tied to 500 billion dollar valuation to keep stars from jumping ship.[2] Circular financing links it to public tech firms like Microsoft but that web could snap if investors sour.[2] GQG Partners calls economics shaky because compute costs rise with every user unlike software with fixed costs and network effects.[2] No real scale advantages mean losses stick around longer.
IPO odds play in too. OpenAI stays private but pressure builds with 500 billion dollar plus value. SpaceX eyes public markets after hype so OpenAI might follow by 2028 or so listing shares.[1] If it goes public pre 2030 stock trades real time splitting that valuation into per share price. Assume 10 billion shares outstanding rough guess based on funding then at 1 trillion dollar market cap each share worth 100 dollars. But dilution from new raises could double shares cutting value per share. Post IPO multiples might compress to 20 to 30 times sales if growth slows versus 65 times private hype.[1]
Upside scenarios paint bright pictures. Scenario one dominance OpenAI invents AGI artificial general intelligence by 2028 solving hard problems like drug discovery or climate modeling. Revenues blast to 500 billion dollars valuation 5 trillion dollars stock per share 300 dollars plus if shares stay manageable.[1] Scenario two enterprise lock in Every big company pays billions yearly for custom agents OpenAI takes 30 percent market share at 200 billion dollars revenue trades at 40 times sales for 8 trillion dollar cap wild but possible in AI gold rush.[1][2] Scenario three compute king Rents GPU clusters to all hitting 100 billion dollars from that plus models total 300 billion dollars revenue 3 trillion dollar valuation stock 200 dollars per share.[1]
Downside risks temper excitement. Scenario one bust Open source wins 80 percent market with free models OpenAI revenue stalls at 50 billion dollars losses mount valuation crashes to 200 billion dollars stock 10 dollars if public.[2] Scenario two regulation Governments cap AI power over safety or monopoly fears revenues halve to 100 billion dollars multiples drop to 10 times for 1 trillion dollar cap stock 50 dollars.[2] Scenario three burn out Needs 300 billion dollars more funding but investors bail amid recession cash crunc