Anthropic is planning an initial public offering as early as mid-November and could file its public registration as soon as Friday, according to media reports this week, even as OpenAI has shelved its own 2026 listing in favor of another private round. The two leading AI labs are now taking opposite paths to capital. Anthropic, maker of the Claude models, confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1 and held off only to show investors its third-quarter results at an October 14 investor day. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, had been racing toward the public market and has now pulled back from it.
Anthropic's numbers explain its urgency. The company reported revenue of $16.8 billion in the third quarter, up from $11.5 billion in the second and $4.7 billion in the first, and said it had reached adjusted profitability for a second consecutive quarter with positive free cash flow. It also claimed $1.70 in revenue for every $1 spent on computing power, implying a compute margin above 40 percent. The timing of a public listing works in its favor: with OpenAI stepping aside, Anthropic would command the market's attention for a high-profile AI debut, following SpaceX's June offering that reopened appetite for large listings.
OpenAI's stated reasons for waiting are governance and risk. Chief executive Sam Altman told Fortune in September that it "would be an ill-advised moment to go public" given growing concern over AI's dangers, and pointed to the company's split nonprofit and for-profit structure, which can force decisions that run counter to shareholders' financial interests, a tension harder to manage as a public company. Those are legitimate grounds, but they sit alongside a less flattering comparison. By the metrics each has disclosed, Anthropic's valuation surpassed OpenAI's this year, and while Anthropic reports adjusted profitability, OpenAI's operating loss widened to $12.3 billion in the second quarter.
The revenue comparison carries its own dispute. Anthropic reported $11.6 billion in second-quarter revenue against OpenAI's $6.7 billion, but OpenAI reports net revenue and argues that Anthropic books the full value of contracts sold through cloud partners, so the two figures may not be comparable. For now OpenAI prefers to raise privately and quickly, seeking about $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation, according to Reuters, before Anthropic goes public. The sequencing has prompted speculation that OpenAI wants to lock in funding before Anthropic's audited financials are available for investors to scrutinize.
What to watch is the paperwork. Anthropic's public S-1, possibly out this week, would be the first chance for outside investors to see audited financials rather than the snippets disclosed so far. The filing must be public at least 15 days before a roadshow currently expected to begin November 9, which means that if the S-1 is not out by October 25, the IPO could slip again. OpenAI is still expected to list in 2027, though Altman would not commit to a year, and its timing may hinge on how Anthropic's debut lands and how much enthusiasm the market retains for AI stocks.