OpenAI Investors Anticipate Anthropic IPO to Assess Financial Risks

Investors want to know the stock price of Anthropic on the exchange before investing new funds in OpenAI, writes Financial Times. Anthropic, the developer of the chatbot Claude, is preparing for an initial public offering, while OpenAI's valuation has decreased by $150 billion during the tech sector downturn – from $1.4 trillion to $1.25 trillion.

According to FT, interest was minimal even before the market downturn. “There was no excitement. All previous rounds were accompanied by a real hunt. Now – complete calm,” the publication quotes a source. Then the Nasdaq-100 lost about $2 trillion during the October tech stock sell-off: investors doubted the financial returns from AI. By the Friday deadline, some investors reduced amounts, and the first round is expected to close at less than $20 billion.

Participants

The largest investor is expected to be a group from the UAE, including the state fund MGX: in return, OpenAI will receive the option to lease new computing power in the region. Founders Fund, Coatue, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz plan to join. Some major investors reduced their stake at a $1.25 trillion valuation; later, shares will be offered to private individuals at the same price.

Early investors remain in profit: Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank bought shares in March at a valuation of $852 billion, and the current valuation is about 47% higher.

What's next

The key test is the coming weeks: Anthropic may go public on Nasdaq as early as mid-November, and then investors will get the market price of their investments. According to Reuters, OpenAI aimed to complete the deal before this, as both companies target the same investors. “The market needs to see a successful offering. Companies are in dire need of additional funding,” says Jimmy Chang from Rockefeller Global Family Office, which has invested in both OpenAI and Anthropic.