OpenAI is now weighing an IPO as soon as 2027, a timeline that would let Anthropic list first. Both AI companies have already filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and OpenAI’s leadership expect Anthropic to go public first, according to people familiar with the matter.
OpenAI had been targeting a fall listing. Anthropic is considering an IPO as soon as in October, Bloomberg News reported. The New York Times first reported OpenAI’s revised timing, and the shift pushed shares of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, SoftBank, and Oracle lower on Friday in New York.
Anthropic Likely Goes First
OpenAI’s new window now starts in 2027 and depends on the market lining up. The company’s leadership expect Anthropic will likely go public first, the people familiar with the matter said, even though both companies have already filed confidentially with the SEC. Anthropic filed second. The Claude maker is now positioned to list first.
The mechanics remain fluid. Deliberations are ongoing and details of OpenAI’s IPO plans could change, the people said. A spokesperson for OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment. OpenAI had been targeting a fall listing, and its revised plan now places it roughly a year behind Anthropic’s reported October window.
The financial press has tracked both filings for weeks. The New York Times first reported the expected IPO timing. Bloomberg reported the date shift. SpaceX has already priced the largest IPO in history ahead of both, which compresses the AI-native listings into a tight late-2026 and 2027 window, with Anthropic and OpenAI listing into a market already digesting the SpaceX IPO.
The order matters because institutional capital is the bottleneck. Each listing draws from the same pool of dedicated tech and AI funds. Anthropic listing first means it captures those allocations, and OpenAI’s later listing prices against the Anthropic benchmark with the pool already partly deployed.
- OpenAI target IPO year: as soon as 2027
- OpenAI last private valuation: $852 billion (early 2026)
- OpenAI last private round: $122 billion raised earlier in 2026
- Anthropic Series H valuation: $965 billion post-money
- Anthropic revenue run rate: $47 billion (May 2026)
- Anthropic target IPO month: as soon as October
- Goldman Sachs shares Friday: down as much as 4.9%
- Morgan Stanley shares Friday: down as much as 4.2%
The Logic Behind OpenAI’s Wait
Recent volatility in tech stocks influenced OpenAI’s potential timing, some of the people said. The shift comes as the AI-heavy cohort that OpenAI would list into has swung sharply.
OpenAI’s own statement, released when the company announced its confidential filing, puts every timeline on the table:
We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.
That statement is OpenAI’s open posture, issued when the company announced its confidential filing. A confidential filing gives OpenAI the option on timing without forcing a date. Filing fees are paid, lead underwriters are signed, and the listing window is held open. The June 23 sell-off that erased more than $1 trillion from the Nasdaq 100 sits inside the volatility the people cited.
Filing confidentially costs OpenAI nothing meaningful through that window. SEC review fees are paid, but the filing itself is reversible until the company goes public with an S-1. The bank mandates are signed at fixed retainer rates, not success fees, and the $122 billion private raise carries the spending OpenAI needs to fund through 2026 and into 2027.
The Capital Already Behind Closed Doors
OpenAI is not waiting because it is short on cash. The company raised $122 billion in a funding round from investors earlier this year to support its spending spree on AI infrastructure. The financing valued the ChatGPT maker at $852 billion, including the money raised. Anthropic has narrowed the gap fast. The Claude maker closed a $65 billion Series H funding round led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital at a $965 billion post-money valuation.
| Metric | OpenAI | Anthropic |
|---|---|---|
| Latest private valuation | $852 billion | $965 billion post-money |
| Capital raised in latest round | $122 billion | $65 billion |
| Revenue run rate | Not publicly stated | $47 billion (May 2026) |
| IPO target timing | As soon as 2027 | As soon as October |
| Lead underwriters | Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley | Not publicly stated in source |
| SEC filing status | Filed confidentially | Filed confidentially (June 1, 2026) |
Anthropic, once viewed as an underdog relative to OpenAI, has seen revenue soar this year thanks to the success of its AI software, including products that help streamline the process of writing and debugging code. Sacra estimates its annualized revenue hit $47 billion in May 2026, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025. The Claude maker filed confidentially to go public shortly before OpenAI.
Four Stocks That Slipped on Friday
The delay is OpenAI’s. The bill lands elsewhere. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, OpenAI’s lead banks on the potential listing, fell as much as 4.9% and 4.2% respectively Friday in New York. Shares of SoftBank Group Corp., a large OpenAI backer, and Oracle Corp., a major data center partner, both fell following the news of the revised IPO timeline. All four companies have publicly disclosed their OpenAI ties through earlier 2026 filings or press releases.
The exposure differs across the four names. Lead underwriters earn the bulk of their fees when deals price, and a 2027 listing slots Goldman and Morgan Stanley into a thinner revenue quarter for the deals that matter most. SoftBank holds a large OpenAI position that gains paper value on a listing and loses the same paper value when the listing slips. Oracle has already signed many of the large data-center sites needed to support a major contract with OpenAI, and the cash-flow curve Oracle built around an October-to-December listing tilts back.
The Friday moves clustered around the four names. Goldman Sachs had traded in a tight band through the week before the drop. Morgan Stanley’s slide was the larger of the two bank moves, and SoftBank and Oracle both traded on above-average volume.
The Infrastructure Bill That Won’t Wait
OpenAI can wait on its listing, but the data-center bill it is funding cannot. Future data-center lease commitments among the largest cloud-computing companies climbed past $850 billion in the most recent quarter, led by Meta and Microsoft, with Meta adding $79 billion in new commitments and Microsoft adding more than $41 billion, bringing their respective totals to $182.9 billion and $196.6 billion as of March 31.
Oracle, the largest holder of future spending commitments, slightly reduced its own commitments after previously securing many of the large sites needed to support a major contract with OpenAI. The lease obligations sit off balance sheet until payments begin. The overall pool will largely be paid out over the next two decades. That horizon is the clock OpenAI is racing against, regardless of which quarter it lists in. Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg has said his company will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure by the end of the decade.
The day Google’s search dominance cracked in the AI era is part of the same demand curve that produces the $850 billion lease pool. OpenAI’s private cash pile is large. The bill keeps getting larger, and the spending commitments have already been signed by the partners waiting on its listing to convert paper exposure into balance-sheet strength.
Microsoft added more than $41 billion in new commitments, but that followed a deliberate pause through much of 2025. The software giant was constrained by data-center capacity and is now catching up. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a server farm project in west Texas in partnership with Chevron, a signal that the lease commitments are starting to convert into built infrastructure. Amazon, by contrast, added $10 billion in lease commitments, less than half the amount signed in the prior quarter.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is OpenAI planning to IPO?
OpenAI is targeting a 2027 listing window, after Anthropic filed first. The company confirmed the confidential filing with the SEC on June 8 and said the exact date ‘may be a while’ in its own statement.
When is Anthropic planning to IPO?
Anthropic filed its S-1 confidentially with the SEC on June 1, 2026, per FutureSearch’s forecast page. OpenAI’s leadership expects the Claude maker to go public first, according to people familiar with the matter.
How much is OpenAI worth privately?
OpenAI’s $122 billion raise earlier in 2026 valued the company at $852 billion including the new money. Anthropic’s last round, the $65 billion Series H led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital, set a $965 billion post-money mark. Anthropic’s revenue run rate hit $47 billion in May 2026.
Why are Goldman, Morgan Stanley, SoftBank, and Oracle shares down on the news?
Each name has a different link to the OpenAI listing. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are lead underwriters on the deal. SoftBank holds a large OpenAI equity stake. Oracle is a major data-center partner. All four stocks fell on Friday in New York.
What does the IPO delay mean for AI infrastructure spending?
The AI infrastructure build is not slowing. Future data-center lease commitments among the largest cloud-computing companies have climbed past $850 billion in the most recent quarter. Meta added $79 billion and Microsoft added more than $41 billion in new commitments. A 2027 OpenAI listing would still slot into the same spending cycle.
