Anthropic has chosen Nasdaq for a planned October IPO that could value it near $2 trillion, even as OpenAI has ruled out a 2026 listing over AI safety concerns.
Key Points:
- Anthropic has picked Nasdaq while still targeting an October IPO, with estimates around the deal placing its valuation near $2 trillion.
- OpenAI has ruled out a 2026 listing, with CEO Sam Altman citing heightened AI safety concerns.
- Anthropic’s confidential filing, financing and potential $100 billion raise point to a listing that could rank among the largest ever.
Anthropic Nasdaq Listing
Anthropic has selected Nasdaq for its planned initial public offering, Business Insider reported, citing a person familiar with the company’s plans. The AI company is still targeting October, while its private filing means a final valuation has not yet been disclosed.
Estimates around the deal have placed Anthropic near $2 trillion, which would put it among the largest public listings ever attempted. Nasdaq already secured SpaceX earlier this year at a $1.75 trillion valuation, giving the exchange another major technology listing in a year with relatively few large debuts. The New York Stock Exchange has historically attracted many of the biggest offerings.
The exchange choice should have limited impact on how Anthropic shares trade after the debut. Nasdaq and NYSE use different systems to establish opening prices, but there is no clear evidence that companies perform better simply because they list on one exchange rather than the other. Nasdaq’s systems failed during Facebook’s 2012 IPO, a reminder that very large offerings can still test exchange infrastructure under pressure.
Nasdaq does offer one structural advantage. Only Nasdaq-listed companies can enter the Nasdaq 100, where eventual inclusion can bring automatic demand from funds that track the index.
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OpenAI Safety Split
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the opposite approach two days before Anthropic’s exchange choice became public, telling Fortune that OpenAI would not list in 2026. “Given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public,” Altman said. His comments came as AI companies faced renewed scrutiny over safety risks and the rapid pace of model development across the industry.
That debate also includes Anthropic itself. A former company researcher recently resigned while warning that AI labs were “gambling with our lives,” and Business Insider reported that his post put the risk of human extinction above 10%.
Anthropic’s current plan follows months of IPO preparation. The company filed confidentially at a $965 billion valuation, appointed Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead, and arranged a $15 billion credit facility while preparing to pitch a $30 trillion addressable market.
A possible $100 billion raise would make it the largest flotation ever attempted, while an October roadshow would require Anthropic to publish financials at least 15 days beforehand.
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