We’ve seen a handful of successful tech and AI IPOs this year, but some of the heaviest hitters in AI, most notably Sam Altman’s OpenAI and Dario Amodei’s Anthropic, have yet to hit the public markets. Undoubtedly, we’ve heard a great deal about valuations and private investments from the likes of some pretty stellar big-tech titans.
However, I’m sure every day retail investors are wondering when they can get a piece of some of the hottest AI firms behind such technologies as ChatGPT and Claude. Once OpenAI and Anthropic AI are available for the public to invest in, I’m sure there would be a huge initial boom of sorts. Perhaps the stage may very well be set for one of the most oversubscribed IPOs of all time.
Either way, I think it’s too early in the game to deem we’re in an AI bubble when some of the most exciting forces are still private. When more big-name IPOs do go live, perhaps excitement and euphoria could go into overdrive such that an inflating of an AI bubble does occur. However, until then, we can only wait patiently for a shot to invest directly in the likes of an OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere and all the sort.
What If AI IPOs Go Live in an Anxious Market?
The big question, I think, is what will happen to such big-league AI IPOs if they go public in a market environment where there’s fear, caution about AI spending, and perhaps pessimism about the potential to score a decent return on investment. And what if the Fed suddenly decides that it’s done cutting interest rates, or worse, hints at potential rate increases to stomp out an inflation resurgence? It’s hard to tell.
Either way, CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) is one of the AI infrastructure plays that went live on public markets at a bad time, shortly before Liberation Day, when stocks were about to go into a free-fall of sorts over tariffs. Ultimately, the scare didn’t last long, and CoreWeave went on to rocket higher before more recently pulling back to more reasonable levels.
In the current environment, there’s a strong sense of caution. But, either way, I think not even a fearful investor would be able to stop an OpenAI or Anthropic AI IPO from being a day-one success. There are just too many retail investors who’ve been waiting too long for a piece of the premier AI model makers. Either way, I’m excited about the AI IPO market, even more so if investors aren’t as enthusiastic about the names as before.
Anthropic
OpenAI is going to draw large crowds once it goes live. And while I’m sure Anthropic will do the same once it has its IPO, I think there might be a shot to score a better deal. Undoubtedly, there are more ChatGPT fans than Claude fans. But don’t let the popularity contest make you stick with OpenAI over Anthropic. Given Anthropic’s enterprise focus, I think it’d be wise to get a piece of both AI pure-plays. Though perhaps not directly, as they run out of the gate.
With recent projections that point to hitting profitability sooner than OpenAI, perhaps Anthropic could shape up to be a more intriguing investment as AI profitability and monetization become more of a focus, rather than raising capital and unprecedented spending on infrastructure. It’s unclear when exactly Anthropic will go public, but the industry titans seem to be getting first dibs on the AI innovator.
DataBricks
Databricks is another intriguing AI play that I’m excited for should it decide to go public next year. Undoubtedly, the company might be valued at more than $100 billion when it goes live, given its explosive growth rate, OpenAI partnership, and role as an AI enabler.
Arguably, it’s one of the software infrastructure AI plays that could hit the ground running whenever it decides to go live. With one of the most impressive AI platforms in the cloud and a world of growth opportunities, I personally cannot wait until the name goes public. It will be interesting to see how the AI platform play stacks up against the likes of data warehousing and AI cloud play Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW | SNOW Price Prediction). Personally, I think Snowflake has made huge strides under its new CEO such that investors might wish to go with Snowflake rather than wait around for a Databricks IPO.
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