AI giants' race to raise funds heats up as ChatGPT-owner plans stock market debut

June 9, 2026

OpenAI has announced it filed confidential paperwork with the SEC for a potential initial public offering, joining rival Anthropic in plans to go public within the same week. The timing follows SpaceX's upcoming Nasdaq debut and reflects the AI industry's enormous capital requirements, particularly for computational infrastructure that costs OpenAI an estimated $100 billion annually while revenues remain much lower. Both OpenAI and Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI executive Dario Amodei after disagreements with CEO Sam Altman, have been competing intensely with private valuations approaching $1 trillion.

Who is affected

OpenAI and its co-founder/CEO Sam Altman
Anthropic and its co-founder Dario Amodei
SpaceX and Elon Musk
Current private investors in OpenAI (most recent valuation at $852bn) and Anthropic (most recent valuation at $965bn)
Potential public market investors
Users and corporate customers of ChatGPT and Claude chatbots
The broader generative AI industry

What action is being taken

OpenAI has made a confidential filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to pursue an IPO
The SEC is reviewing OpenAI's paperwork
SpaceX is debuting on the Nasdaq on Friday
Anthropic is planning to go public (announced one week prior)

Why it matters

The IPO decisions by OpenAI and Anthropic will shape public expectations for the generative AI space overall, as investors closely track how these pioneering firms perform on public markets. These companies require vast amounts of capital to fund computational infrastructure, with OpenAI's compute costs alone estimated at over $100 billion annually while revenues remain a fraction of that amount. The public's perception of these two competitors is intrinsically intertwined, meaning their stock market performance will influence investor confidence in the entire generative AI sector and impact funding prospects for other AI companies considering public listings.

What's next

OpenAI stated: "We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company"
The company now has "the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best" after filing with the SEC
Anthropic expects to turn a profit in the first half of this year
Neither OpenAI nor Anthropic has announced exactly when their IPOs will occur

Read full article from source: BBC