OpenAI and Anthropic Race Toward Rival 2026 IPOs

The two biggest names in AI are racing to Wall Street at the same time. Anthropic confidentially filed for an IPO at a 965 billion dollar valuation, and OpenAI followed with its own confidential filing targeting 730 to 850 billion. Two of the largest tech listings ever, lining up for the back half of 2026. The race to the first trillion-dollar AI IPO is on.

A year ago this would have sounded absurd. Both companies were burning cash with no path to public markets in sight. Then revenue exploded. Anthropic went from about 1 billion in annualized revenue at the end of 2024 to roughly 30 billion by April 2026, and its share of the enterprise AI market passed OpenAI's for the first time. OpenAI reports around 2.6 billion dollars in monthly revenue and 900 million weekly ChatGPT users. Growth like that changes the conversation.

Anthropic filed first, on June 1, targeting an October Nasdaq listing with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley, after a 65 billion dollar raise that valued it at 965 billion and, with the new money, edged past OpenAI for the first time. OpenAI's filing targets a September debut at 730 to 850 billion, having just closed a 122 billion dollar round at an 852 billion valuation, with Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank writing the biggest checks. Two giants, two bank syndicates, weeks apart.

These are private, so there is no stock to trade yet. The cleaner read is the public companies wired into them. Nvidia, which has committed to invest up to 100 billion in OpenAI and supplies the chips both depend on, traded around 208 dollars, up slightly on the day. Amazon, an OpenAI backer and now an Odyssey investor too, sat near 246. The broad AI trade held up. The listings themselves will be the real test of how public investors value all this.

Two trillion-ish IPOs in one quarter would soak up enormous capital and set a public benchmark for the whole AI sector, private valuations included. They also expose these companies to something they have dodged so far: quarterly scrutiny, real disclosure, and a daily price that reflects whether the revenue growth justifies the numbers. If the debuts go well, it pulls the next wave of AI companies toward the exit. If they wobble, the whole private-valuation stack gets a reality check.

So the AI boom is about to meet the public market, twice, within weeks. Anthropic ahead on valuation, OpenAI bigger on users and revenue, both betting investors will pay up for the leaders. The filings are confidential for now. The verdict will not be. Big test coming.