OpenAI files for IPO, following Anthropic

OpenAI on Monday checked off a preliminary step in the IPO race that it and rival Anthropic have been competing in for the better part of a year: The company announced it has confidentially submitted a Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, following Anthropic’s decision to do the same on June 1st. The confidential filing means that certain details normally available through the form — such as executive compensation figures, potential risks to a company’s business, and more financials — aren’t yet public. As of Anthropic’s most recent fundraise, it’s being called the world’s most valuable startup, with a post-money valuation of $965 billion that surpassed OpenAI’s latest $852 billion post-money valuation. OpenAI has been preparing to go public for months, but reports have surfaced that certain executives, namely CFO Sarah Friar, haven’t been as gung-ho about the fast-tracked IPO as CEO Sam Altman, due to missed revenue targets and user growth numbers, and concerns that OpenAI won’t be able to pay for all its compute spending commitments. The company had initially said it was planning to spend $1.4 trillion on compute infrastructure, which Altman seemed to become defensive about when publicly questioned on it. In February, though, OpenAI adjusted that figure, telling investors it plans to spend $600 billion on compute by 2030. The news also comes weeks after the jury reached a verdict in the high-profile Musk v. Altman trial, and ahead of Musk-owned SpaceX’s planned June 12 IPO. SpaceX’s public debut is currently set to raise $80 billion and become the biggest IPO of all time. OpenAI’s own debut will be very publicly compared to that of SpaceX, especially since SpaceX acquired OpenAI competitor xAI and signed a deal with Anthropic, with Anthropic paying $15 billion a year to use SpaceX data centers.