Anthropic prepares for 2026 IPO with a valuation of up to $300 billion, racing ahead of OpenAI

AI startup Anthropic has reportedly hired Silicon Valley heavyweight law firm Wilson Sonsini to accelerate preparations for its initial public offering (IPO), with a valuation expected to reach $300 billion, making it one of the largest tech IPOs in history. At the same time, OpenAI is also making preliminary preparations, signaling fierce competition between the two leading AI companies. However, under the pressure of massive spending and financial burdens, whether both companies can successfully enter the capital markets remains uncertain.

Anthropic Accelerates IPO Preparations, Valuation Expected to Reach $300 Billion

According to the Financial Times (FT), Anthropic recently selected renowned Silicon Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini as its IPO legal advisor, officially kicking off the preliminary preparations for going public. The firm previously led IPOs for major tech companies such as Google, LinkedIn, and Lyft, and since 2022 has assisted Anthropic with Amazon’s (Amazon) large investment agreements.

Sources revealed that Anthropic is currently negotiating a new round of private funding, with valuations possibly exceeding $300 billion to $350 billion. If all goes well, the company could go public as early as 2026, making it one of the largest IPOs in tech history.

Investors are optimistic that if Anthropic can “go public first,” it could gain a strong lead in the race against ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

(Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Anthropic Announce Alliance: Microsoft and NVIDIA Bet $15 Billion Investment on Claude)

OpenAI Also Preparing, Two AI Startups Enter “Pre-IPO Showdown”

It’s not just Anthropic—reports in October indicate that OpenAI is also conducting internal pre-IPO preparations, targeting a valuation of $1 trillion and aiming for a filing as early as the second half of 2026.

Shortly before this news, OpenAI confirmed in a capital restructuring that the OpenAI Foundation remains the controlling shareholder with a 26% stake and a valuation of $500 billion, also making it one of the largest tech companies.

Once the two companies officially announce their IPOs, it will undoubtedly trigger a massive shockwave in the AI industry and capital markets.

(OpenAI Reportedly Targeting $1 Trillion Valuation for IPO, the Largest Listing in History)

Rapid Growth Accompanied by Massive Losses: Structural Challenges Facing AI Startups Going Public

However, both Anthropic and OpenAI face the same challenges, including AI model training costs and data center construction running into billions of dollars, difficulty in accurately estimating expected revenue and returns, and ongoing structural losses—all making it hard for investors to predict their long-term financial performance and casting uncertainty over their IPO prospects.

To address this, Anthropic last year hired former Airbnb executive Krishna Rao as CFO, who played a key role in Airbnb’s IPO process. Insiders revealed that Anthropic has recently strengthened its finances and internal controls according to the “IPO checklist,” indicating its IPO timeline is already scheduled.

It’s clear both companies are actively following public company governance standards to enhance the feasibility of their future listings.

(IBM CEO: The AI Industry is a “Hard-to-Break-Even” Gamble, Only 1% Chance for LLMs to Succeed in Building AGI)

This article Anthropic Preparing for 2026 IPO, Valuation Expected to Reach $300 Billion, Beating OpenAI to the Punch first appeared on ABMedia.