OpenAI targets year end IPO as rivalry with Anthropic intensifies

OpenAI has revealed plans for an IPO in Q4 2026 as the race to a public listing against rival Anthropic enters the final stretch. The AI company has been quietly growing its finance team ahead of the IPO, including hiring Ajmere Dale as the chief accounting officer and Cynthia Gaylor as the corporate business finance officer, who will oversee investor relations.

OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, is also likely to delegate some of his responsibilities in taking the company public to former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. Simo is currently leading the product and business teams as OpenAI’s CEO of Applications. 

Meanwhile, Altman does not seem excited about the AI company going public, based on his remarks on the Big Technology podcast last December. He actually thinks it would be really annoying. However, 2026 is expected to be a blockbuster year for stock-market debuts after the recent drought, according to the WSJ. 

OpenAI executives express concern about Anthropic’s competition

Despite Altman’s half-hearted support for OpenAI’s public listing, the company’s executives have expressed concerns about losing to Anthropic in the race for an IPO. Part of the reason OpenAI’s executives are this worried is that Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI leaders, and it has already told its financial partners it is open to a public listing by the end of the year. 

Both OpenAI and Anthropic are also competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is also aiming for a Summer IPO. SpaceX is hoping to raise over $1 trillion in the IPO, while OpenAI aims to raise over $100 billion in a pre-IPO round that would value the AI firm at $830 billion. 

Meanwhile, Softbank is also discussing investing nearly $30 billion in OpenAI, and Amazon has already held talks with the AI company for an investment of up to $50 billion. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy are personally steering the negotiations. Other companies reportedly considering investing up to $40 billion in OpenAI include Microsoft and Nvidia.

On the other hand, Anthropic is in the process of raising a funding round that is likely to surpass its initial $10 billion target. The company has also held discussions with banks interested in helping with its IPO. 

Anthropic follows OpenAI’s covert finance hiring

Similar to OpenAI’s strategy, Anthropic has also made several finance department hires behind the scenes in preparation for the anticipated end-of-year IPO. Anthropic has hired Andrew Zloto to lead capital markets and Blackstone investor Kevin Chang, whose employment has not been officially announced.

However, media reports suggest that both Anthropic and OpenAI are losing billions of dollars annually as they work to power existing products and build new AI models. Meanwhile, Anthropic is expected to break even for the first time in 2028, approximately two years ahead of OpenAI. 

Therefore, whichever company lists first will probably benefit from a large number of public market investors. Individual investors seeking exposure to generative AI companies are also expected to participate in large numbers. 

Molloy also believes that these listings could trigger a “feeding frenzy” among public market investors who have been waiting to gain from the AI boom. His sentiment is supported by Jeremy Abelson, an investor at Irvin Investors, who notes that it is the first time in 20 years that private companies have been this impactful and meaningful. 

Meanwhile, Renaissance Capital observes that IPOs have been in a slump since 2021, when nearly 397 companies in the U.S. raised over $142 billion. It also notes that roughly 202 companies went public in the U.S. in 2025, raising $44 billion. However, this momentum has been affected by the uncertainty around tariffs.

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