‘Two-horse race’: OpenAI seeks to accelerate fundraising ahead of Anthropic IPO, sources say

New York — OpenAI is moving quickly to secure promises of investment before its rival Anthropic is expected to go public in mid-November. The unusually fast fundraising round could value the company behind ChatGPT at more than US$1.4 trillion, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The fast schedule partly reflects OpenAI’s desire to get ahead of Anthropic, as both leading AI companies increasingly seek money from many of the same investors, the people said. They added that OpenAI wants to use its recent revenue growth, which followed the launch of new models, to attract investors.

SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi-based MGX and other existing OpenAI investors are discussing joining the fundraising round, which is expected to total about US$30 billion, one of the people said.

The faster fundraising effort shows how closely the two AI companies are competing for investment as both seek valuations of more than US$1 trillion. At the same time, investors are increasingly worried about higher interest rates, sharp swings in technology stock prices and growing questions about whether AI companies are worth as much as they claim.

OpenAI met with investment funds that mainly hold stocks for the long term and with government-owned investment funds last week. Anthropic held its own investor day during the same period. OpenAI’s fundraising is expected to move faster than is usual for a deal of this size, the people said.

Investors familiar with the company say OpenAI also needs money to pay for its large infrastructure plans and strengthen its finances. This would help it if a weaker market for initial public offerings (IPOs) further delays its planned 2027 stock market listing.

Although investors are eager to buy shares in both companies, they face the challenge of judging two complicated, competing investment opportunities that may come only days or weeks apart.

Some investors believe OpenAI is trying to secure money from funds that might otherwise put more of their money into Anthropic’s IPO, the people said.

OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment. Anthropic and MGX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trying to avoid direct comparisons

OpenAI is telling investors that its growth sped up after it launched its GPT-6 Astra model. It said its revenue, measured at the rate it would earn over a full year, had reached US$50 billion and was expected to rise to US$70 billion by the end of 2026, according to one of the people.

OpenAI has also lowered prices for its cheaper models. The company said this has increased usage and told investors that it could reduce AI model prices further, the person added.

Anthropic’s annualised revenue reached about US$65 billion by July, Reuters previously reported. The company told investors that its revenue rose from US$11.6 billion in the second quarter of 2026 to US$16.8 billion in the third quarter. However, its revenue has been growing more slowly from month to month, raising concerns among investors about its valuation.

One person said OpenAI wants to finish raising money before Anthropic releases financial information that gives investors a clearer view of its business and encourages them to compare the two companies.

The new information could lead investors to ask OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar for more details about the company’s revenue growth and financial outlook, the person added.

OpenAI records revenue after subtracting the shares paid to partners upfront. It has accused Anthropic of overstating its revenue by counting the full value of contracts sold through outside cloud service providers. Anthropic previously told Reuters that it follows accepted accounting practices.

“OpenAI could want to set its own valuation and not have to worry about a comp (comparison),” said Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Best is not working on the deal and was speaking about what might happen in theory.

“It’s really a two-horse race in terms of being public.”

OpenAI was valued at US$852 billion in March, after raising a record US$122 billion. The funding included a commitment from Amazon.com, which agreed to invest up to US$50 billion in the company.

The Financial Times previously reported some details of OpenAI’s possible fundraising.

Market worries disrupt IPO plans

Several companies preparing to go public have decided to wait until after Anthropic’s planned IPO. Bankers and investors said these companies are concerned that market swings and falling demand for AI stocks could make it harder to attract investors.

Some companies that are raising private funding at a later stage of development are also scheduling their fundraising rounds to avoid taking place at the same time as Anthropic’s expected stock market debut, the bankers and investors said.

Some current and potential Anthropic investors have argued that the company should aim for a valuation closer to US$1.5 trillion for its IPO, rather than its preferred US$2 trillion. Reuters reported last week that investors raised this concern after Anthropic’s third-quarter results fell short of expectations.

The reassessment comes as markets have been unstable since September. Changes in oil prices, rising bond yields and growing concerns about AI safety have reduced investors’ willingness to buy technology stocks.

Investors are also examining the cost of AI infrastructure more closely, including the debt needed to pay for the data centres that support the industry’s growth.

Cloud computing provider CoreWeave is at the centre of these concerns. Its shares and bonds fell sharply last week as investors examined the nearly US$50 billion in debt it used to expand quickly.

The uncertainty has disrupted what many expected to be a busy autumn for IPOs. Companies are reviewing their plans to go public because of unstable markets and concerns about how much businesses are worth.

AirTrunk Reit, which is backed by Blackstone; Firmus, which is backed by Nvidia; and SB Energy, which is backed by SoftBank, have either withdrawn or paused their plans to list on the stock market.

Nuclear services company Holtec withdrew its planned US stock market listing in September. It blamed a “perfect storm”, driven mainly by uncertainty about demand for data centres.

Companies in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which is widely used to track demand for AI-related semiconductors, have lost US$1.6 trillion in market value in less than two weeks. Companies that build AI infrastructure have faced particular pressure. Reuters