OpenAI races to secure ₩40 trillion before Anthropic IPO - CHOSUNBIZ

OpenAI is moving quickly to raise about $30 billion (about 40.3 trillion won) before its rival Anthropic sells shares to the public for the first time in an initial public offering (IPO).

On October 19, local time, Reuters reported, citing two people who know about the matter, that OpenAI is trying to raise a large amount of money before Anthropic goes public. OpenAI is expected to be valued at more than $1.4 trillion (about 1,880 trillion won) in this funding round. That is more than 60% higher than its $852 billion (about 1,144 trillion won) valuation in March, when it raised $122 billion.

OpenAI wants investors to promise to provide money before Anthropic's planned IPO in mid-November. Since both companies are seeking money from many of the same investors, OpenAI appears to be trying to secure funding before Anthropic does.

Existing investors, including SoftBank Group and MGX, an investment firm based in Abu Dhabi, are reportedly discussing whether to join this funding round. OpenAI is said to have met with long-term investment funds and government-owned investment funds last week, at the same time Anthropic held a presentation for investors.

Many investors want to invest in both companies. But they must decide how to divide their money between two large fundraising efforts taking place only days or weeks apart. Some investors believe OpenAI is moving first to secure money that could otherwise be invested in Anthropic's IPO.

OpenAI has told investors that its growth has sped up since it launched the GPT-6 Astra model. One source said OpenAI's yearly revenue, based on its current rate, is now $50 billion (about 67.1 trillion won) and is expected to reach $70 billion (about 94 trillion won) by the end of the year. Another source said OpenAI wants to finish raising money before Anthropic goes public and reveals its financial results, allowing investors to compare the two companies directly.

The two companies are also arguing about how revenue should be counted. OpenAI has accused Anthropic of making its revenue look larger by counting the full value of contracts sold through outside cloud service providers. Anthropic says it follows accepted accounting rules.

Anthropic's revenue grew from $11.6 billion in the second quarter of this year to $16.8 billion in the third quarter. However, its monthly revenue growth is slowing, raising concerns about how much the company is worth. Some investors have reportedly suggested that Anthropic should be valued at about $1.5 trillion when it goes public, below the $2 trillion value it had initially hoped to reach.

Investors have also become less confident about technology stocks recently. Since September, changing oil prices, rising bond yields and worries about AI safety have made markets more uncertain. Because of this, some companies have delayed plans to sell shares to the public until after Anthropic's IPO. AirTrunk, which is backed by Blackstone; PerfMode, which is backed by Nvidia; and SB Energy, which is backed by SoftBank, are said to have canceled or paused their IPO plans.