Anthropic is moving closer to a possible public listing as private-market valuation talk rises to as much as $800 billion. At the same time, OpenAI remains the other company most closely watched in the same race. Investors are now looking at revenue growth, enterprise demand, IPO readiness, and the cost of running large AI systems.
Neither company has confirmed a final IPO date. However, market attention has moved beyond model launches and product demos. The focus is now on which company can show scale, stronger business demand, and a more structured path to the public market.
A listing by either company would mark a major step for the AI sector. For now, Anthropic has drawn extra attention because of its recent valuation jump and its rising revenue. OpenAI, however, remains close in size and still holds a large position in the market.
Anthropic has attracted fresh investor attention after private-market discussions placed its valuation far above the level seen in its February 2026 funding round. That shift has increased market focus on the company’s listing plans. It has also raised questions about whether Anthropic could reach the public market before OpenAI.
The company has already taken steps often linked to IPO preparation. It has made board changes, worked on internal share planning, and moved to simplify parts of its capital structure. Those actions do not set a listing date, but they do point to a more deliberate preparation process.
Anthropic’s leadership structure has also remained stable. The company continues to operate under its founding team, and that has helped support the view that its internal planning is moving in a clear direction. In a market where timing matters, that kind of stability is drawing notice.
Anthropic said in April 2026 that its annualized revenue had reached $30 billion. At the end of 2025, the figure stood at $9 billion. The jump has become a major part of the company’s valuation case.
OpenAI’s annualized revenue has been reported at about $25 billion over a similar period. The figures are not perfectly aligned because the two companies do not use the same revenue accounting method. Even so, the comparison has added to the debate around which company is growing faster in commercial terms.
Anthropic’s expansion has been tied closely to business products, especially coding tools and enterprise software. This growth has helped the company gain more attention from investors looking for revenue strength, not only technical progress. In the current market, this distinction matters.
Anthropic has also gained ground in enterprise usage. Recent business spending data showed its share rising to 30.6%, up from 24.4% a month earlier. Over the same period, OpenAI’s share stood at 35.2%, leaving a smaller gap between the two companies.
The movement appears to reflect stronger traction with new enterprise buyers. Anthropic has done well in areas where customers want model control, policy safeguards, and more predictable outputs. This includes finance, legal work, healthcare, and software development.
Its safety-focused product design has played a role in this rise. Anthropic’s “Constitutional AI” framework is meant to guide model behavior and reduce unsafe or unreliable responses. For enterprise clients working under tighter internal rules, this approach has added commercial value.
Anthropic and OpenAI are both growing fast, but both also face high infrastructure costs. Training and operating large AI models requires heavy spending on chips, cloud systems, and data centers. Revenue growth helps, yet cost control remains a central issue.
Anthropic is also dealing with regulatory pressure tied to its US defense-related supply chain risk designation. This dispute has created uncertainty around parts of its government business. It may also affect how some investors assess the company ahead of any public listing.
OpenAI faces a different set of pressures. The company continues to deal with governance questions while also managing the large computing costs of its own. As both companies move closer to the IPO stage, those issues are likely to remain under close watch.
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