OpenAI’s decision to quietly start the process of going public has turned its rivalry with Anthropic and the broader AI boom into a high-stakes test of how far investors will bet on generative AI.

On June 1, Anthropic confidentially filed for an IPO, becoming the first of the two frontier labs to formally move toward Wall Street, with a post‑money valuation of about $965 billion, edging past OpenAI’s $852 billion value.¹ That set off questions over which company would seize investor attention — and limited capital — first.²

In the early hours of June 8, OpenAI published a brief blog post titled “Confidential submission of draft S-1 to the SEC,” confirming it had also submitted a confidential registration statement.³ The company said it expected the news to leak, so it chose to announce it, adding that it has “not decided on timing yet” and that “it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” while the filing “gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”³

Later that day, financial and tech outlets framed the move as the latest step in one of the most anticipated IPO races in years. Axios reported that OpenAI’s draft paperwork “gives itself the option to tap public markets,” even as it continues to prioritize product development.² Business Insider described the confidential S‑1 as “the first official step toward a blockbuster IPO,” noting that each of OpenAI and Anthropic is expected to seek a valuation above $1 trillion.¹ The Verge similarly cast the submission as a key milestone, coming “following Anthropic’s decision to do the same on June 1st.”⁴ The Financial Times characterized the prospective listing as a “blockbuster Wall Street” debut expected to value OpenAI at more than $1 trillion.⁵

Behind the scenes, reporting highlights tensions and risks. Axios and The Verge both point to internal disagreements between CEO Sam Altman and CFO Sarah Friar over the speed of an IPO amid missed revenue targets and massive compute commitments.²⁴ PitchBook analysts told Axios that whichever company, Anthropic or OpenAI, clears SEC review first could shape what the other ends up disclosing, potentially giving a late mover a strategic advantage.²

Outside the IPO mechanics, broader trust issues around AI providers continue to simmer. Days before OpenAI’s filing, Meta AI chief scientist Yann LeCun amplified criticism of Anthropic’s data‑retention policy, retweeting a founder who said that a new rule of “retaining prompts and usage is a red line” because prompts “contain our IP; literally all our design files and docs.”Yann LeCun (ylecun)⁶ The episode underscores that as OpenAI and Anthropic race to Wall Street, they are also competing to convince enterprises that their business models and privacy practices are compatible with long‑term adoption.