OpenAI and Anthropic are racing toward blockbuster IPOs after both AI companies filed confidentially with U.S. regulators, turning their rivalry into a Wall Street contest.
Anthropic said on June 1 that it confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO of common stock. The company said the listing would depend on SEC review, market conditions and other factors.
OpenAI followed with its own confidential IPO filing. Reuters previously reported that OpenAI was looking to go public at a valuation of around $1 trillion.
The race follows years of competition between OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei. Amodei, a former OpenAI researcher, left in late 2020, along with other staff members, to form Anthropic.
The rivalry dates back to ChatGPT’s launch. Altman moved OpenAI to fast-track a chatbot in late 2022 after the company learned Anthropic was working on a rival product. ChatGPT launched on November 30, 2022.
The competition now extends to revenue reporting. OpenAI has told investors and employees that Anthropic’s gross-revenue method overstates its financial picture. Anthropic told Reuters it follows established accounting practices because it acts as the principal in customer transactions.
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The companies also compete across products. OpenAI built consumer momentum through ChatGPT, while Anthropic has gained attention with Claude and Claude Code. OpenAI has increased its focus on enterprise software and its coding product, Codex, as Anthropic’s developer tools have grown.
Both companies declined to comment on the CEO rivalry. Bankers and advisers are now managing potential conflicts as the two direct rivals prepare for public-market scrutiny.
