Anthropic vs OpenAI: AI's new rivalry moves to the stock market
New Delhi, June 2
The battle for dominance in artificial intelligence is increasingly shifting from technology to capital markets, with OpenAI and Anthropic emerging as the frontrunners in what could become the biggest IPO race in history.
According to a recent Deutsche Bank Research Institute report, OpenAI is preparing to launch a record-breaking public offering that could raise as much as USD 60 billion and value the ChatGPT maker at more than USD 1 trillion. However, the company now faces mounting pressure from rival Anthropic, which has overtaken OpenAI in sales and is moving aggressively toward a public listing of its own.
Anthropic has filed a confidential draft registration statement with US regulators for a proposed initial public offering on Monday, positioning itself to capitalize on surging investor demand for pure-play AI companies.
In a latest funding round, the Claude maker raised USD 65 billion led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital, valuing the company at USD 965 billion post-money, surpassing OpenAI.
The Deutsche Bank report noted that "OpenAI is in a race with Anthropic, which overtook it in sales last month and is on track to generate USD 40 billion in annual recurring revenue this month." In comparison, OpenAI is expected to reach USD 30 billion in annualised revenue this month.
The report noted that Anthropic "may be looking to raise more than USD 60 billion in its own IPO this year."
Despite the growing challenge, OpenAI remains the face of the generative AI revolution. Deutsche Bank said the company appears determined to "strike while the iron is hot," citing reports that OpenAI plans to make a confidential filing with regulators and could go public as early as September.
If successful, the offering would surpass every IPO on record. The report said a USD 60 billion share sale would be "the biggest IPO ever, twice as big as Saudi Aramco's IPO," which raised USD 25.6 billion in 2019.
Yet investors may remain cautious. Deutsche Bank observed that "it has yet to be seen how public markets will value OpenAI and its peers once they open up their financial statements to scrutiny and explain the still little-understood economics of their business models."
The report also highlighted broader enthusiasm for AI investments, noting that investors currently have limited opportunities for direct exposure to foundation-model companies. With both OpenAI and Anthropic preparing for landmark listings, the coming months could determine which company ultimately emerges as Wall Street's preferred AI champion.
— ANI
Reader Comments
I'm skeptical about these valuations. We saw what happened with Indian startups during the funding boom - high valuations don't always mean good business. The report itself admits the economics are 'little understood'. Let's not get carried away with IPO fever.
This is huge for global markets. If Anthropic really does $40B in ARR, that's almost as much as some Indian IT majors combined. The real question is how this trickles down to emerging markets like India - will local AI companies get better funding or get squeezed?
Great news for AI enthusiasts but let's keep our Desi perspective. These US companies might dominate, but India has its own AI ecosystem growing - Bajaj Auto's AI lab, government's IndiaAI mission. We don't need to just watch from sidelines. 🇮🇳
I worry about the hype cycle. Remember when crypto companies had insane IPOs? Now look at them. AI is real technology, but $60B IPO before they even prove long-term profitability? Seems rushed. Let Anthropic and OpenAI show sustained earnings first.
As someone who uses both ChatGPT and Claude daily, I can see why investors are excited. But the Deutsche Bank report is right to be cautious about the business model. These companies burn cash like crazy on compute costs. Indian investors should watch, not jump in blindly.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.