The AI IPO Race: OpenAI and Anthropic Head to Wall Street at $1.8 Trillion

📖 6 min read

Two of the world’s most powerful AI companies filed for public listings within seven days of each other – and the combined numbers are staggering. Anthropic moved first on June 1, 2026, submitting a confidential S-1 to the SEC at a $965 billion valuation. OpenAI followed on June 8 at $852 billion. Add them together and you get $1.817 trillion in implied AI company value heading toward Wall Street – roughly equal to the entire GDP of Canada.

This is not a coincidence. Both companies are racing to capture investor appetite before the market cools, before a competitor moves first, and before their sky-high private valuations face the cold scrutiny of public shareholders.

The Numbers Behind the Headlines

Let’s start with Anthropic, since it moved first. The company behind Claude hit a $965 billion valuation after closing a $65 billion funding round – a round that was, by multiple accounts, heavily oversubscribed. More importantly, Anthropic posted a $47 billion annualized revenue run rate in May 2026, up sharply from roughly $9 billion just a year earlier. That’s more than 5x revenue growth in 12 months.

OpenAI’s position is different but arguably even larger in raw scope. In March 2026, the company raised $122 billion at an $852 billion post-money valuation – the largest private technology financing in history. Backers include Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank. Microsoft, which has invested more than $13 billion since 2019, retains a 27% stake in OpenAI’s for-profit arm.

Company	IPO Filing Date	Valuation	Revenue Run Rate	Key Investors
Anthropic	June 1, 2026	$965 billion	$47B/year (May 2026)	Amazon, Google
OpenAI	June 8, 2026	$852 billion	Not disclosed	Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank

Neither company has disclosed timing. OpenAI actually admitted in its blog post that it filed preemptively because it expected a leak. The actual public offerings could come later this year or into 2027, depending on market conditions and SEC review.

Why Both Filed Now

The window is real. Investor appetite for AI is as high as it has ever been, and both companies know that sentiment can turn. The public market wants exposure to AI, but right now the only way in is through Big Tech stocks like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet – none of which are pure-play AI bets. OpenAI and Anthropic would give retail and institutional investors a direct stake in the two companies most associated with the AI revolution.

There’s also a competitive angle. Anthropic filed first, and OpenAI almost certainly accelerated its own timeline in response. The company that prices and lists first gets to set the benchmark – and potentially siphon the larger share of available capital. If Anthropic goes public at $1 trillion+, it becomes harder for OpenAI to argue its $852 billion valuation represents a discount.

And then there’s xAI. Elon Musk’s AI company, bundled inside SpaceX, is reportedly set to make its market debut as early as this Friday – adding a third AI giant to the public markets queue almost simultaneously.

The Revenue Question Nobody Is Asking Loudly Enough

Anthropic’s $47 billion revenue run rate is genuinely impressive. But the price-to-revenue ratio implied by the $965 billion valuation is roughly 20.5x forward revenue – in a sector that’s burning enormous compute costs to generate that revenue. Gross margins on AI inference are not yet software-like. Infrastructure spend at both companies is measured in billions per year.

OpenAI has not disclosed its current revenue figures in connection with the IPO filing, but earlier reports suggested it was tracking toward $12-15 billion in annualized revenue earlier in 2026. Even if that number has grown significantly, the $852 billion valuation implies a revenue multiple somewhere between 20x and 40x – depending on how aggressively you model ChatGPT subscriber growth and API revenue.

For context: Nvidia, the most profitable pure infrastructure play in AI, currently trades at roughly 30x forward earnings – not revenue. The AI software companies heading to market are being valued as if profitability is guaranteed and competition is frozen. Neither assumption is safe.

Who Has the Most to Win (and Lose)

Amazon and Google have combined paper gains of approximately $74.2 billion from their Anthropic stakes, marked against a $380 billion valuation from February 2026 – before the most recent jump to $965 billion. An IPO would finally put a liquid market price on those positions and potentially unlock massive gains for both cloud giants.

Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI is murkier. The company has invested over $13 billion and holds a 27% equity share, but the relationship has been complicated by OpenAI’s conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit benefit corporation, a process still working through final approvals. The IPO could either simplify that dynamic or surface new conflicts.

Employees at both companies stand to benefit enormously. OpenAI said it plans to facilitate a tender offer so employees can sell shares at the $852 billion valuation ahead of the public listing – a significant liquidity event for a workforce that has been locked up in private equity for years.

What This Means for the AI Industry

Public listings will change how these companies operate. Right now, OpenAI and Anthropic can run at a loss, prioritize capability development over margins, and answer only to private investors who have long-term patience. Once they’re public, quarterly earnings calls begin. Analysts will demand revenue growth, margin improvement, and a clear path to profitability.

That discipline may actually be healthy. The companies will need to show that their AI products generate sustainable revenue – not just impressive demos. But it will also create pressure to ship faster, cut costs, and potentially de-prioritize safety research that doesn’t contribute to the bottom line. That’s a genuine tension both companies will need to manage publicly, not just internally.

The broader market implication is also significant. A successful Anthropic IPO at near $1 trillion would validate AI sector valuations broadly. A stumble – a pricing cut, a weak first-day performance, or a post-IPO selloff – could rattle confidence across the entire AI investment thesis.

BetOnAI Verdict

This is the most important week in AI finance since ChatGPT launched. Two companies that together have reshaped how the world thinks about artificial intelligence are heading to Wall Street at combined implied valuations that would make most countries’ stock markets look small.

The bull case is straightforward: AI is still in its early innings, revenue is growing at extraordinary rates, and public markets have been starved for pure-play AI exposure. If Anthropic’s $47 billion revenue run rate keeps compounding at even half its current pace, the valuation math starts to work.

The bear case is equally clear: 20x revenue multiples bake in perfection, compute costs are enormous, competition is intensifying from Google (which can subsidize AI with search ad revenue), and public market investors are less forgiving than private ones when growth stumbles.

Neither filing has a timeline yet. Watch for the S-1 filings to become public – that’s when the real scrutiny begins. The numbers in those documents will tell us whether the AI boom is a real economic transformation or the most expensive momentum trade in market history.

Bet: Both companies go public in Q4 2026. Anthropic prices first at a slight discount to private valuation. OpenAI follows within 90 days. Both trade volatile in the first year as the market figures out what “AI profitability” actually looks like.

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Sources:

• TechCrunch – OpenAI files confidentially for IPO, following Anthropic (June 8, 2026)
• CNBC – OpenAI confidentially files for IPO (June 8, 2026)
• The AI Insider – Anthropic President defends IPO, revenue hits $47B run rate (June 9, 2026)
• CNBC – Anthropic IPO sets up first big test of AI boom valuations (June 5, 2026)
• Fortune – Amazon and Google have billions riding on Anthropic IPO (June 4, 2026)
• CNN – OpenAI IPO: Major AI companies will soon be put to the test (June 9, 2026)