OpenAI has filed confidentially for an IPO, following rival Anthropic's similar filing just over a week earlier. The move comes despite OpenAI missing its own revenue and user targets, with its CFO raising concerns about sustaining massive data center spending. OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion and projects burning $85 billion in 2028 even after doubling sales. Anthropic, by contrast, is nearing its first quarterly profit and has seen 123% valuation appreciation year-to-date on secondary markets versus OpenAI's 11.3%. Experts warn that whoever IPOs first will capture more of the increasingly scarce capital available for AI companies, and Anthropic's disclosures will set a valuation benchmark that constrains OpenAI's own pricing. The race to go public is unfolding amid ongoing lawsuits, internal controversies, and SpaceX also expected to debut at a $1.75 trillion valuation.
