OpenAI IPO Could Slip to 2027 as Anthropic Eyes First-Mover Pricing Edge

Anthropic, the developer of the Claude family of artificial-intelligence models, has emerged as one of OpenAI’s most closely watched rivals. Rapid adoption by corporate customers has strengthened the company’s revenue outlook and investor appetite. A listing at a valuation of as much as $2 trillion could eclipse SpaceX and become the largest initial public offering on record, underscoring Wall Street’s enthusiasm for generative AI.

Anthropic began preparations for an IPO in 2026 and could move ahead as early as the autumn. Second-quarter revenue increased fourteenfold and the company turned profitable, while annualized revenue climbed to $65 billion. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Anthropic’s internal projections put its long-term potential revenue above $30 trillion, an exceptionally bullish estimate helping support investor expectations for a record valuation.

OpenAI and Anthropic are competing for leadership in generative artificial intelligence while preparing for potential public listings. An IPO would give OpenAI broader access to capital but also expose its finances, governance and growth outlook to greater scrutiny. The timing is therefore an important test of whether the company can convert rapid adoption of its AI products into a durable business.

OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told employees the company expects to go public no later than 2027, with an earlier debut possible if growth continues to accelerate. She cited strong revenue and enterprise momentum in the current quarter and said employees should not be concerned about Anthropic listing first. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have submitted confidential IPO filings, according to the reports.

OpenAI has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies as demand for AI coding software and enterprise subscriptions accelerates. Its expanding revenue base is crucial to funding the enormous computing and research costs behind frontier models. Competition from Anthropic and lower-cost alternatives, however, is increasing pressure on OpenAI to defend its pricing power and demonstrate a durable path to profitability before entering public markets.

As of August 2026, OpenAI’s annualized revenue had doubled to more than $40 billion. The company is reshaping its senior sales organization and cutting prices for some AI models to reinforce its position among corporate customers. OpenAI and Anthropic have both submitted confidential initial public offering filings, according to the reports, intensifying efforts to improve their financial structures and monetization as the rival AI developers prepare for potential listings.

Anthropic, developer of the prominent Claude AI model, has seen its secondary-market valuation surge 550% this year to $1.2 trillion, overtaking OpenAI and drawing intense market attention. With demand for its shares far outstripping supply, the frenzy has reportedly prompted some investors to sell their homes to buy stock and fueled gray-market trading, forcing the company to issue a warning. The activity underscores the powerful pull that leading AI unicorns exert on capital amid the global artificial intelligence boom.

Bloomberg reported that Anthropic could go public as early as October this year. Three major investment banks are actively arranging meetings between investors and the company's senior executives, while an investor meeting is reportedly set to take place soon. The developments suggest that the company's listing plan, with a valuation closing in on $1 trillion, has entered its final stages. The market is closely watching whether Anthropic can complete the listing in October.

OpenAI is seeking to balance heavy spending on computing capacity with fundraising in the capital markets. CEO Sam Altman has committed $600 billion to expanding computing infrastructure to support ChatGPT’s growth. But user and revenue figures have fallen short of targets, raising questions about whether an IPO can support the company’s long-term data-center bills.

Altman initially favored pursuing an IPO as early as the fourth quarter of 2026. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar warned that current revenue was insufficient to support computing commitments of up to $1 trillion and that the company could run out of cash in five years. The New York Times most recently reported that OpenAI was leaning toward delaying its listing until 2027, while Altman was demanding a valuation of at least $1 trillion.

OpenAI is at the center of the generative AI boom but remains privately held, preventing retail investors from buying its shares directly. Investors have instead sought indirect exposure through companies with stakes in or partnerships with OpenAI, including Microsoft, SoftBank, Nvidia and OpenAI shareholder Eightco, hoping to benefit from growth in corporate AI spending and model commercialization.

OpenAI was previously reported to be planning an IPO in the fourth quarter of 2026 at a target valuation of $1 trillion, with annualized revenue at the time exceeding $25 billion. Rival Anthropic's annualized revenue had reached $19 billion, an approximately tenfold increase from a year earlier. The latest reports, however, indicate that the listing plan may be put on hold and delayed until 2027.

OpenAI helped ignite the generative AI boom with ChatGPT, but training models and building computing infrastructure require enormous investment. Going public could broaden its fundraising options and increase financial transparency. A listing at the reported valuation of $850 billion to $1 trillion would rank among the largest technology IPOs in recent years and could influence the listing plans of Anthropic and SpaceX.

The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on a U.S. IPO and could confidentially submit an S-1 filing as early as July 24, 2026, targeting a September listing. Some more recent reports say the filing has already been submitted. SpaceX was previously reported to be considering a June listing, but the precise timetable, underwriting arrangements and final valuation have yet to be confirmed.

Competition in generative AI and commercial spaceflight has driven up valuations of privately held technology companies. If OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX proceed with IPOs in succession, trillion-dollar companies would face their first test in public markets. Their listings could also redirect funds that investors have concentrated in large-cap technology stocks in the S&P 500.

Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee recently said the listings were expected to add trillions of dollars in stock supply, equivalent to 5%–6% of the S&P 500's total market capitalization. Although Bank of America has warned that an IPO boom could overheat technology stocks, Lee said investors were currently underallocated and the market could absorb the supply. He also expects U.S. stocks to have further room to rise in 2027.

OpenAI built a lead in the consumer market with ChatGPT, but Anthropic has rapidly closed the gap in the high-margin software development and enterprise markets with Claude Code and enterprise agent tools. Competition in generative AI has shifted beyond individual model capabilities to workflows, data permissions and deployment platforms. OpenAI’s ability to convert its 900 million users into paying customers with heavy computing needs will be critical to its revenue and IPO valuation.

In March 2026, Fidji Simo called on OpenAI to rein in its “side quests.” On March 24, the company announced it would discontinue the Sora consumer app, developer version and ChatGPT video features to focus on Codex and enterprise agents. OpenAI is targeting a fourth-quarter IPO at a valuation of about $1 trillion. On April 13, Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser outlined five strategic priorities, including Spud, Frontier and DeployCo.

Founded in 2015, OpenAI has expanded rapidly through ChatGPT and enterprise AI services. As it prepares for an initial public offering, the company has identified its reliance on Microsoft for cloud computing and commercial partnerships as a risk in its financial filings. Computing costs and partner concentration will directly affect its IPO valuation, profitability and operational resilience.

The latest filings show that OpenAI estimated its 2025 revenue at $13.1 billion, although training and deploying large AI models still require substantial capital expenditure. Its reliance on Microsoft could also become a focus of investor scrutiny. The company is expanding partnerships with Amazon and others to diversify its cloud infrastructure and commercial resources, reduce concentration risk and prepare for the IPO.