ChatGPT and its creator, OpenAI, triggered the modern conversation around artificial intelligence.
The AI large language model fascinated its users by providing relevant information based on text prompts. ChatGPT offers instant answers instead of requiring users to scan multiple pages on a search engine.
OpenAI, under the leadership of CEO Sam Altman, recently crossed $25 billion in annualized recurring revenue, less than four years after launching ChatGPT. That’s a massive jump from the prior year, and while the company isn’t publicly traded quite yet, OpenAI is reportedly gearing up for an initial public offering, or IPO. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar recently said that the company will reserve some of its IPO shares for retail investors.
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Many brokerage firms that enable pre-IPO shares are expected to make OpenAI stock available after the IPO timeline is disclosed. The company is projected to command a valuation above $1 trillion when it becomes a publicly traded company, which has resulted in plenty of enthusiasm from investors.
How Fast Is the Use of ChatGPT Growing?
ChatGPT’s usefulness and versatility made it the fastest platform to reach the milestone of 100 million monthly active users. It took only about two months from its launch in November 2022 to reach that number, a UBS study in early 2023 showed. That was just the beginning of ChatGPT’s expansion, with OpenAI announcing in February that the AI model had surpassed 900 million weekly active users.
All eyes will be on OpenAI’s business updates as the company gears up for its IPO. Billions of dollars in venture capital have already flowed into OpenAI, and its partnerships with multiple Big Tech companies give it the foundation to become one of the world’s most valuable companies.
For instance, Oracle Corp. (ticker: ORCL) has deployed OpenAI GPT-5 across its database portfolio. OpenAI has also partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to let organizations build, deploy and manage AI agents. Not to be left out, Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) plans to invest $100 billion in OpenAI as it develops an “AI factory” to deploy 10 gigawatts of computing power using Nvidia’s Vera Rubin chips. And of course, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) remains OpenAI’s most significant partner, though the exclusivity of the relationship has weakened in early 2026.
How to Invest in ChatGPT and OpenAI Now
You can’t directly buy OpenAI shares right now, and you would have to buy OpenAI for exposure to ChatGPT. Retail investors aren’t entirely out of luck if they want to buy OpenAI before it IPOs, but it will require some creativity.
Dustin Engel, U.S. director at WY Partners, an M&A consultancy, shared some suggestions for investors who want exposure to OpenAI: “If investors want exposure, it is typically indirect, through public companies tied to the AI buildout, such as semiconductors, cloud infrastructure and enterprise software.” Engel adds, “If someone says they want to invest in ChatGPT, the more useful framing is that they want to invest in the AI buildout.”
Investors can choose from many stocks in the AI buildout. Trillion-dollar tech giants are the most well-known, but digging for smaller companies can produce higher long-term returns if they are well positioned for the boom. Here’s a summary of the most well-known stocks that offer indirect exposure to OpenAI and ChatGPT, followed by four picks that are particularly well positioned now:
| Stock | OpenAI Connection | Nature of Deal |
| Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) | Primary strategic partner | Exclusive license for pre-AGI tech; $13 billion-plus investment; primary cloud hosting via Azure |
| Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) | Cloud and silicon diversification | $50 billion strategic investment; use of OpenAI models on AWS Bedrock and Trainium chips |
| Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) | “AI factory” initiative | $100 billion infrastructure project to deploy 10 gigawatts of compute using Vera Rubin |
| Oracle Corp. (ORCL) | Enterprise database integration | Deep integration of GPT-5 into Oracle’s autonomous database |
| Apple Inc. (AAPL) | Device ecosystem (Siri) | Ongoing integration of ChatGPT into iOS/macOS, though moving toward a non-exclusive status |
| Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) | Safety and security pact | Data-sharing agreement to prevent model “distillation” and enhance AI safety |
| IREN Ltd. (IREN) | AI data center provider | $9.7 billion contract with OpenAI partner Microsoft for 200 megawatts |
4 Stocks With Ties to OpenAI and ChatGPT
Here are details on four standout stocks now that have a relationship or benefit from OpenAI and ChatGPT:
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Software behemoth Microsoft is one of the best stocks available for exposure to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other large language models, or LLMs. Microsoft and OpenAI’s 2019 partnership, which was extended in early 2023 with a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment from Microsoft, is a collaboration on new Azure AI supercomputing technologies and LLMs.
The deal made Azure OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider for “stateless” APIs (application programming interfaces), but OpenAI has since diversified and started to work with other cloud providers like Oracle, AWS and Google Cloud. Microsoft is also working on in-house AI models known as MAI-1. Still, Microsoft released a blog post in February containing a joint statement that cited a partnership that “remains strong and central,” along with “unchanged” commercial and revenue shares.
MAI-1 isn’t Microsoft’s only venture into AI tools, however. The Redmond, Washington-based firm unveiled Copilot — an AI assistant that makes it easier for people to create images, produce documents and complete slide decks — early in the AI buildout cycle. Copilot allows Microsoft to expand into multiple industries. For instance, Microsoft Copilot for Security allows businesses to detect cyber threats quickly and fortify their digital defenses. It’s been a commercial success, with 70% of Fortune 500 companies adopting the technology.
Alphabet is one of OpenAI’s cloud providers, but that’s not the only reason investors are loading up on the stock. Alphabet has been an AI company in disguise. Google uses artificial intelligence to provide visitors with optimal search results based on text prompts.
The tech giant launched its own natural language processing tool, Gemini, which competes with ChatGPT. It’s even tapping into physical AI with its self-driving Waymo vehicles, although that segment isn’t having a meaningful impact on total sales quite yet.
Alphabet also owns more than 10% of Anthropic, a key ChatGPT competitor. While most of Alphabet’s revenue still comes from online advertising, AI tailwinds have produced substantial growth for Google Cloud, which represents about 16% of the company’s total revenue.
Though it competes with ChatGPT in some areas, Alphabet is a play on the broader trend that OpenAI represents. It also has a collaborative data-sharing agreement, or rivals’ alliance of sorts, with OpenAI to prevent model “distillation” and enhance AI protection from external threats.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
Nvidia is a dominant force in the AI industry that has become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, briefly touching a $5 trillion valuation near the end of 2025. It’s been the top pick for years as tech giants like OpenAI can’t get enough of its AI chips.
These AI chips, also known as graphics processing units, can handle a wide range of tasks, and OpenAI will need more of them to fulfill the rising demand for ChatGPT. Continued research and development investments have given Nvidia a firm lead over its competitors, and despite the company’s massive size, it continues to produce tremendous revenue growth.
Nvidia generated $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026, which was up by 65% year over year. The good times are still underway based on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s prediction that the company would generate $1 trillion in data center revenue through 2027. He also said this figure only includes Nvidia’s Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin AI chips, which means the final result may be higher.
IREN Ltd. (IREN)
IREN, formerly Iris Energy, is the least well-known name on this list. While many of the top AI stocks have multi-trillion-dollar market caps, or at least find themselves well above $100 billion, IREN’s market cap only comes to approximately $15 billion. Despite its current size, IREN is an integral player in the AI boom.
Tech giants have been aggressively buying AI chips, but those chips are meaningless if you do not have electricity and a place to store them. IREN is an AI data center provider that has a large fleet of AI chips and more than 4.5 gigawatts of secured power across its data center projects.
Those gigawatts can go for a lot of money once all of IREN’s sites are fully built out. For instance, it secured a five-year, $9.7 billion contract with Microsoft for 200 megawatts last year. Once IREN has built its AI data centers, it can support more than 20 additional contracts like the one with Microsoft.
IREN is at the center of the AI bottleneck, and its 1.4-gigawatt Sweetwater 1 site in West Texas is projected to be energized this April. Tech giants’ demand for AI data centers creates big opportunity for IREN, but with half of the overall planned U.S. data center projects already delayed or even canceled, IREN faces less competition in this lucrative industry.
While there is no direct public contract between IREN and OpenAI, IREN plays a foundational role in the ecosystem that allows ChatGPT to function and scale.
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Can You Invest in ChatGPT and OpenAI? originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 04/10/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
