What will OpenAI's public ticker be?

Resolution Criteria

This market will resolve according to the public ticker symbol used by OpenAI in an IPO (Initial Public Offering) by December 31, 2027, 11:59 PM ET. An official announcement from OpenAI that it will IPO under a specific ticker symbol will be sufficient to resolve this market. If a ticker used by OpenAI in a qualifying IPO is a variant of a ticker symbol listed in this market group with additional letters to denote a specific class of shares, it will be considered to be that ticker (e.g. if OpenAI uses a ticker symbol of $OPAI.A or $OPAIA, this market will resolve to $OPAI). If OpenAI announces an IPO with multiple tickers that are not considered the same ticker under the previous rule (i.e. $OPAI.A and $OPAI.B would be considered the same ticker), this market will remain open until OpenAI's first day of public trading and will resolve according to the ticker symbolizing the security class with the greatest market capitalization. Market capitalization is calculated as the number of shares outstanding multiplied by the closing share price on the first trading day. If this also results in a tie, this market will resolve according to the ticker symbol that comes first in alphabetical order. If OpenAI IPOs with a non-listed ticker, or does not IPO or officially announce an IPO and ticker symbol by December 31, 2027, 11:59 PM ET, this market will resolve to "Other." The primary resolution source for this market will be official information from OpenAI and the primary exchange's official listing page. In the event that the relevant figure is not displayed, another reliable source will be used. Note: In the event of an interruption in the course of the normal trading session on OpenAI's first day of trading (e.g., a circuit breaker or half-day), the market will use the official closing price of the abbreviated session. If no such official closing price is published, the market will use the closing price on the next trading day for which an official closing price is published, treating that as the first day of trading for purposes of this market.

$OAI is the heaviest-backed outcome in Polymarket trading on what ticker symbol OpenAI will use in a public IPO, with $OPAI the next most heavily backed. The market covers 19 possible ticker outcomes plus an 'Other' fallback and resolves on an official IPO announcement or first trading day by 31 December 2027. Volume is heavily concentrated on a small number of symbols.

Market structure

The market spans 19 named ticker outcomes plus an 'Other' catch-all. Volume is heavily concentrated on two symbols — $OAI and $OPAI — with the remainder broadly distributed across alternatives including $AIGI, $AAGI, $LLM, $OA, $AIX, and $CGPT. Resolution requires an official OpenAI IPO announcement or first trading day by 31 December 2027 ET. The primary resolution sources are official OpenAI communications and the primary exchange's listing page.

Background

OpenAI, the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT and the GPT series of models, has been restructuring its corporate governance to allow for a conventional for-profit entity, a prerequisite for a public listing. The company has grown rapidly in commercial scale since the public launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, attracting significant investor interest at private valuations placing it among the most valuable private technology companies in the world. Speculation about an IPO timeline has intensified alongside its ongoing transition away from a capped-profit model. A public listing would represent one of the most closely watched technology flotations in years, drawing comparisons to landmark listings by other major platform companies. The choice of ticker symbol carries both branding and operational significance, as it becomes the permanent public identifier for the company on equity markets.

Key factors

Several structural factors bear on both whether OpenAI lists before the deadline and which ticker it selects. The ongoing corporate restructuring — converting from a capped-profit to a conventional for-profit structure — must reach completion before a public listing becomes legally and procedurally straightforward; delays in that process push the resolution window closer to the December 2027 deadline or beyond it. Regulatory review of any IPO filing, particularly given OpenAI's scale and the heightened political attention on AI, could introduce timing uncertainty. Exchange selection (NYSE versus Nasdaq) does not affect resolution but may influence available ticker options. Ticker availability is constrained: short, recognisable combinations of letters may already be registered. The resolution rules contain specific tie-breaking and share-class mechanics that become relevant if OpenAI lists multiple share classes — a common structure for technology IPOs — meaning the class with the greatest market capitalisation on the first trading day would determine the resolved ticker. If no qualifying IPO or announcement occurs before the deadline, the market resolves to 'Other' regardless of any informal disclosures.

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