OpenAI has taken a significant step toward going public by hiring prestigious law firms to prepare for an initial public offering, signaling that the AI giant's entry into public markets is imminent.

According to a recent report from The Information, people familiar with the matter disclosed that OpenAI has retained Cooley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz to assist in preparations for its IPO. The listing could occur as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.

Selecting legal counsel typically marks an early phase in the IPO process, which is usually followed by the appointment of investment banks as advisors. In its current funding round, OpenAI's pre-money valuation has reached $73 billion. A successful public offering would position it as one of the largest IPOs in history, allowing retail investors to participate in the AI boom.

Senior executives at OpenAI have privately indicated that the company could go public as early as the fourth quarter and is laying the groundwork accordingly. This process generally involves legal preparations and extensive negotiations with securities regulators.

Market anticipation surrounding the public listings of OpenAI and its competitor Anthropic has been building for months. On Wednesday, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVDA, a key partner of OpenAI, provided important clues during a Morgan Stanley investment conference in San Francisco.

NVDA invested $30 billion in OpenAI in the current funding round, but Huang noted that a previously considered $100 billion investment plan "may not materialize" because "the reason is they are going public."

Additionally, AMZN has committed to an initial investment of $15 billion in OpenAI during this round and indicated that, subject to certain conditions including a public listing, it may inject an additional $35 billion in the "coming months."

The two law firms selected by OpenAI have previously handled certain 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 purchase of Jony Ive's io products and the $1.1 billion acquisition of product analytics startup Statsig.

Cooley is well-known for assisting technology companies such as NVDA and Snowflake in preparing for their IPOs. Previous reports from the Financial Times indicated that OpenAI was in talks with Cooley, though a final selection had not been confirmed at the time.

It is noteworthy that, according to insiders, OpenAI's rival Anthropic has also engaged law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for a potential public offering.