OpenAI Joins Anthropic in Filing for US IPOs as AI Companies Eye Public Markets

OpenAI has quietly submitted paperwork for a U.S. initial public offering, stepping into the spotlight shortly after Anthropic's filing. The move underscores a growing wave of major AI firms planning to tap public markets as excitement around artificial intelligence swells.

The details are still under wraps, with OpenAI not revealing the scale or timing of its IPO. The company hints that it may stay private a bit longer to pursue activities easier without public company constraints. Meanwhile, rumors suggest the valuation could reach a mind-boggling $1 trillion, aiming for a debut possibly as soon as this September.

If it hits that lofty valuation, OpenAI would join an exclusive club of recent enormous market debuts, including Elon Musk's SpaceX, which itself targets a staggering $1.75 trillion valuation, potentially topping all IPO records. Anthropic, riding high after a massive $65 billion funding round valuing it at $965 billion, paved the way by filing just days earlier.

This cluster of colossal IPO plans marks a serious test of investor nerves and appetites for high-flying tech bets. Each company is a trailblazer in AI, but their overlapping timing raises questions about market capacity for such sizeable offerings in quick succession.

OpenAI has parlayed investments from tech heavyweights like SoftBank, Amazon, and Nvidia to build ChatGPT into one of the most-used AI platforms globally, boasting around 900 million weekly active users and 50 million subscribers. Its business momentum has also sparked a renegotiation with Microsoft, freeing the company to work closer with competitors such as Amazon and Google.

Revenue figures have been climbing fast: from an estimated $1 billion quarterly intake at the end of 2024 to reportedly $2 billion monthly just a few months later. However, OpenAI's path to profitability is expected to stretch out to 2030 or beyond, per insider accounts.

Anthropic, meanwhile, is carving out its own niche with products like the Claude coding assistant and advanced models for code security, gaining a fast-growing user base among developers. The intense competition now clouds the AI sector's future growth and investor commitments.

Wall Street faces a delicate juggle. While these IPOs could invigorate a sluggish market for public offerings, some bankers express concern that the big players might monopolize institutional capital, leaving less room for smaller companies jockeying for funding.

Adding complexity is OpenAI's unusual corporate evolution. Originally a nonprofit, it created a for-profit arm to manage AI development costs but sparked controversy along the way, notably with Musk challenging its structure and alleged mission drift in court-claims a jury dismissed, clearing a major potential IPO roadblock.

With SpaceX set to go public imminently, Anthropic having confidentially filed, and OpenAI preparing its own debut, the AI sector's march into the public arena is accelerating. The question now is not if, but when and how the markets will absorb these tech giants' meteoric rise.