What the AI IPO wave signals for investors
The race toward an AI company IPO refers to leading artificial intelligence firms preparing or planning stock market debuts, which signals growing industry maturity, stronger investor appetite for AI exposure, and a shift from private funding to public market discipline as these businesses chase scale and capital-intensive growth. OpenAI’s confidential filing for a stock offering alongside Anthropic’s public listing plans marks a turning point: elite labs are moving from closed fundraising rounds to public earnings calls and regulatory scrutiny. Analysts view these offerings as tests of whether public investors believe current AI startup valuations can be justified by long-term cash flows, not only hype. The timing shows that management teams think demand for exposure to generative AI is strong enough to support large, high-profile listings even amid market volatility and persistent questions about regulation and profitability.
OpenAI and Anthropic: Competing timelines, similar pressures
OpenAI has confidentially filed for a US stock offering after earlier targeting a valuation of up to USD 1 trillion (approx. RM4.6 trillion), while Anthropic, valued at USD 965 billion (approx. RM4.4 trillion) after its latest round, has also filed confidentially for a public listing. OpenAI has not set a tech IPO timeline and says “it may be a while” before shares trade, highlighting a tension between staying private to move fast and tapping public markets for capital. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives argues that “both OpenAI and Anthropic are racing to get to market as quickly as possible to beat one another out due to the significant amount of capital both firms are looking to raise.” For investors, their contrasting narratives—OpenAI’s scale and user reach versus Anthropic’s reported path to profitability—will shape how each is valued at IPO.
Perplexity’s 2028 plan: A different bet on the AI cycle
While OpenAI and Anthropic rush toward the market, Perplexity is positioning itself on a longer tech IPO timeline. CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC that the AI search company still targets an IPO in 2028 “agnostic of these two companies,” even as he notes that it is “important for the AI industry that these IPOs go well.” Perplexity, valued at USD 20 billion (approx. RM92 billion) after a recent funding round, competes with both traditional search engines and AI-first browsers. Its strategy suggests a belief that investor appetite for pure-play AI exposure will extend beyond the first wave of mega-listings. By waiting, Perplexity can watch how markets price OpenAI and Anthropic, refine its own revenue story around tools like its Comet browser and Computer agent, and aim to arrive with a clearer path to durable cash generation.
What these IPO strategies reveal about AI valuations
The IPO push is shining a light on AI startup valuations that sit near the top of the tech market. Gregory Allen notes that firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX are “in the ballpark of a trillion dollars valuation,” likening that to an annuity paying out tens of billions each year forever. Yet some of these businesses are still loss-making and face huge capital expenditure needs. That mix—high gross margins but heavy investment—explains the move from private capital to public markets. Investors will scrutinize whether AI labs can turn exceptional user metrics, such as OpenAI’s hundreds of millions of active users and tens of millions of subscribers, into predictable, high-margin revenue. The performance of the first AI company IPO cohort will influence whether later listings earn similar multiples or face a reset in expectations.
A test of mainstream investor confidence in AI
Taken together, the OpenAI stock offering plans, the Anthropic public listing, Perplexity’s 2028 target, and SpaceX’s upcoming debut show that AI is entering a new phase: public markets are now part of its funding backbone. Michael Fertik says he is “rooting for the IPOs” and hopes a “gushing torrent of liquidity” will follow, opening AI gains to retail investors. At the same time, Srinivas warns there will be “ripple effects” if flagship IPOs disappoint. For investors, this is less about a single company and more about whether public markets can absorb multiple high-valuation AI names. Strong debuts would confirm that mainstream investors are ready to back long-term AI growth stories despite regulation and volatility, while weak ones could compress valuations across the sector and reshape how future AI company IPO candidates tell their story.
