Anthropic PBC pulled ahead of OpenAI with its confidential initial public offering filing Monday, as the free-spending artificial intelligence startups battle for a fundraising edge that’s set to determine who will win the ultimate battle for computing power.
The oneupmanship in the firms’ private funding rounds, and now their progress toward going public, isn’t just about bragging rights. The risk for both firms is that the first to tap the U.S. market’s unparalleled depth and liquidity will gain an immediate advantage in securing access to the chips, data centers and talent needed to build their AI models.
With businessman Elon Musk looking to turbocharge SpaceX’s nascent AI offerings by strapping them to a hyperscaler with a chipmaker joint venture and doing an IPO, OpenAI and Anthropic can’t risk falling behind. Being first to market — and the first to show their cards — comes with a potential downside, too, though.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.