Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI assistant, filed a confidential registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, taking the first formal step toward a public listing [2][7]. The filing came days after the company closed a $65 billion funding round that valued it at $965 billion, surpassing OpenAI's most recent $852 billion valuation [1][4]. On the same day, Alphabet announced plans to raise $80 billion through a stock sale — including a $10 billion private placement from Berkshire Hathaway — to fund AI computing infrastructure it says cannot keep pace with demand [3][10].
Anthropic's confidential S-1 does not yet disclose share count or pricing [7]. The company reported annualized revenue of $47 billion and said it expects to reach profitability in the first half of 2026, a distinction analysts noted separates it from SpaceX and OpenAI, both of which are also preparing to go public [2][4]. Anthropic's enterprise-focused strategy — centered on coding tools, software development, and its Mythos cybersecurity model sought by US agencies and the European Union — has been cited as a driver of its rapid growth [5]. Scott Stevens, founder and CEO of Gray Peak Financial, told Al Jazeera that Anthropic overtook OpenAI in valuation within 12 to 14 months by concentrating on enterprise and software development rather than consumers, calling OpenAI's consumer focus "a pretty big misstep" [1].
The race to list first has become a point of disagreement among analysts. Gil Luria, an analyst at DA Davidson, stated that "OpenAI and Anthropic are in a race to go public before capital runs out" and that the first mover "will get to set the agenda for how a frontier model reports financials" [1]. Troy Hooper, who leads equity capital markets at Mergermarket, said "the first mover has a real chance to define how public markets value generative AI, setting up the yardstick that investors will use to measure everyone else" [2]. A contrarian view came from Harrison Rolfes, a research analyst at Pitchbook, who told VnExpress that OpenAI retains the advantage: "Cách hiểu thông thường, là OpenAI có lợi thế hơn. Anthropic chỉ tự nguyện gánh chịu toàn bộ rủi ro khi công bố thông tin trước" (The conventional understanding is that OpenAI has the advantage. Anthropic is merely voluntarily bearing all the risk of disclosing information first) [6]. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC that "going public is a financing event. I don't think that's one that we're focused on" [4].
Several analysts warned that the combined capital demands of Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX could strain public markets. Luria said the combined demand "is likely to create disruptions in the capital markets" and crowd out smaller listings [1][6]. Rolfes said Anthropic and SpaceX together "represent the largest concentration of pre-IPO capital ever brought to market simultaneously," calling the 2026 window "either the most consequential IPO cycle since the dot-com era or the most expensive lesson in narrative-versus-fundamentals that public markets have ever taught" [2]. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities characterized the filings as "an opening of the floodgates for the IPO market, which has been relatively dormant for a few years" [3][4]. An analyst identified as Corrigan questioned whether "the price investors are going to end up paying is going to match up to the substance and fundamentals of what AI is really going to do in the real economy" [3]. German public broadcaster Tagesschau echoed that doubt, noting observers question whether hundreds of billions in AI infrastructure investment can be recouped [5].
Alphabet's $80 billion equity raise — structured as a $30 billion underwritten offering, a $40 billion at-the-market program, and the $10 billion Berkshire Hathaway private placement — is intended to fund a 2026 capital expenditure forecast of $180 billion to $190 billion [9][11]. Chinese-language financial outlet Wall Street CN described the raise as a rare mega-refinancing and interpreted Berkshire Hathaway's discounted participation as a strong endorsement of Google's AI strategy [12]. Le Monde analyzed the dilution implications and strategic consequences for global digital infrastructure [14]. Hindi-language outlet Jansatta reported that part of Alphabet's broader spending includes a $15 billion investment in an AI hub and data center in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, described as Google's largest AI center outside the United States [19]. Chinese-language sources framed the capital deployment as a direct move in the US-China technology competition [11][12].
Anthropic's path to the public market carries a separate set of complications tied to its relationship with the US government and its stated safety commitments. The BBC reported that CEO Dario Amodei raised concerns that new Department of Defense contract language could permit mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons use [2]. President Donald Trump subsequently denounced Anthropic, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth prohibited any US agency from using Claude [2][6]. TIME reported that Anthropic had already relaxed a key commitment in its Responsible Scaling Policy before the IPO filing [20]. San.com raised governance concerns about whether Anthropic's public benefit corporation structure would be sufficient to protect safety priorities once public-market investors demand growth [8].
The effects of Anthropic's enterprise AI tools are already registering in markets outside the United States. Hindi-language outlet Dalal Street Investment Journal reported that Anthropic's new agentic AI tools and Claude CoWork platform triggered declines in Indian IT and business-process outsourcing stocks, raising concerns about automation-driven job displacement in a sector central to India's economy [18].
Anthropic's listing timeline remains contingent on market conditions; the confidential filing allows SEC review without public disclosure of financial details [15][16]. A Colombian outlet, El Colombiano, reported that the company could list as early as autumn 2026 if conditions permit [13]. Anadolu Ajansı, Turkey's state news agency, confirmed the confidential filing and noted the regulatory approval process ahead [17]. Alphabet's stock sale is expected to proceed in stages through the remainder of 2026 [9].