Anthropic and OpenAI File for IPOs in Landmark AI Race
- Jun 26
- 4 min read
The two biggest names in artificial intelligence are heading for Wall Street. Anthropic and OpenAI have each confidentially filed paperwork for initial public offerings, setting up one of the most closely watched races in modern market history and signaling that the AI boom is about to face its first major test in the public markets.
Anthropic moved first. On June 1, 2026, the company confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The confidential route is a common path for large companies, allowing them to begin the regulatory review process before publicly committing to a price or timeline.
The filing arrived less than a week after Anthropic closed a blockbuster funding round, raising $65 billion in a Series H that pushed its valuation to roughly $965 billion. That figure places the company on the cusp of the trillion-dollar mark, and many observers believe the eventual public debut could value Anthropic well into trillion-dollar territory, an almost unimaginable milestone for a company of its age.
Anthropic's growth has been staggering. The company said its annualized revenue run-rate crossed $47 billion in May, a dramatic leap from the roughly $9 billion to $10 billion range associated with the prior year. Analysts have noted that no enterprise software company on record has compounded revenue at this rate at this scale, a statistic that helps explain the enormous valuations investors are willing to attach.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, quickly followed. Reports indicated that OpenAI had also confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC, setting the stage for what could be one of the largest public-market debuts in history. The maker of ChatGPT has been valued at more than $850 billion and has signaled it could move to go public as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.
The near-simultaneous filings have transformed a long-running rivalry into a direct contest for investor capital. Both companies are expected to seek tens of billions of dollars in new funding in close succession, and many analysts believe whichever firm reaches the market first could enjoy an advantage, capturing demand before the second offering arrives to compete for the same pool of money.
According to reporting, Anthropic's filing targets an October 2026 Nasdaq listing, with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley leading an offering expected to raise more than $60 billion. If those figures hold, the deal would rank among the largest technology IPOs ever and could set records for the amount of capital raised in a single debut.
The timing is notable. The filings come alongside SpaceX's own recent arrival on the public markets in 2026, capping a remarkable stretch in which several of the most valuable private companies in the world have moved toward public ownership in rapid succession. Together, the offerings represent a generational shift in how investors will be able to access the companies driving the AI and space sectors.
For everyday investors, the appeal is obvious. Until now, exposure to the leading AI labs has been largely limited to private markets and to the public companies that supply them, such as chipmakers and cloud providers. Direct ownership of Anthropic or OpenAI would offer a new way to bet on the technology many believe will reshape the global economy over the coming decade.
That enthusiasm is tempered by caution. Skeptics warn that sky-high valuations bake in years of flawless execution and continued explosive growth, leaving little margin for error. Questions about the cost of building and running advanced models, the sustainability of revenue growth, and the threat of cheaper competing AI have all fueled debate about whether the sector's valuations have run ahead of fundamentals.
The debuts also carry symbolic weight for the broader market. A successful Anthropic or OpenAI listing would serve as a referendum on the AI trade that has powered stocks higher, while a disappointing reception could rattle confidence across the technology sector. Either outcome is likely to influence how investors value the entire ecosystem of AI-related companies.
For now, both companies have stressed that the timing and completion of any offering will depend on market conditions and other factors, and neither has set a share price, share count or firm listing date. The confidential filings simply start the clock, giving regulators time to review the paperwork before the companies decide whether to proceed.
What is clear is that the AI industry is entering a new phase. After years of private fundraising at ever-higher valuations, the sector's two flagship companies are preparing to open their books to public scrutiny. The race between Anthropic and OpenAI to ring the opening bell will be one of the defining business stories of 2026, with implications far beyond the two firms themselves.
Ultimately, the dueling filings crystallize a pivotal moment for the technology. The companies that have spent years promising to transform how the world works are now preparing to ask public investors to fund the next phase of that mission, and the market's verdict will help define the trajectory of the AI era for years to come.
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