OpenAI’s IPO will expose AI hype to Wall Street

OpenAI’s IPO wave will force major AI companies to prove growth, cash, and product traction.

The next wave of AI listings will show how much of the boom survives public-market scrutiny, with OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX all moving toward IPOs while investors watch valuations that are already near the trillion-dollar mark.

1. OpenAI

OpenAI is the highest-profile test case because it already has the biggest consumer AI product in ChatGPT and the most attention from investors. Its public debut will force the company to explain how fast it can keep growing once quarterly reports replace private-market optimism.

The company has already put big numbers in front of the market: it said in March that it raised $122 billion, valued itself at $852 billion, and was generating $2 billion in revenue every month. It also said ChatGPT became the fastest app to reach one billion users, doing it in about three years.

• March raise: $122 billion
• Valuation: $852 billion
• Revenue pace: $2 billion per month
• ChatGPT user milestone: 1 billion users

2. Anthropic

Anthropic is taking a similar path, but with a slightly different business story. The company confidentially filed for an IPO and has been positioning itself as a major enterprise AI player, which means public investors will want proof that business adoption can keep rising.

Its numbers are even larger on paper right now. Anthropic said its valuation jumped from $380 billion in February to $965 billion in May, and it reported $47 billion in run-rate revenue last month. Ramp also said more businesses used Anthropic than OpenAI for the first time in May.

• Valuation in February: $380 billion
• Valuation in May: $965 billion
• Run-rate revenue: $47 billion
• Enterprise usage: ahead of OpenAI in May, per Ramp

3. SpaceX and xAI

SpaceX is set to make its market debut on Friday, and that matters for AI because the company includes Elon Musk’s AI venture xAI. Even though SpaceX is not a pure AI company, the listing will give investors another public reference point for how much they are willing to pay for frontier tech tied to AI ambitions.

The debut adds pressure to the entire sector because it arrives alongside OpenAI and Anthropic’s plans. Together, these offerings could give Wall Street a fresh view of how much value public markets assign to AI software, models, and the infrastructure behind them.

• Market debut: Friday
• AI tie-in: includes xAI
• Investor focus: valuation and growth expectations

4. Wall Street’s quarterly test

The biggest shift is not the IPO itself. It is the discipline that comes after it. Public investors will expect every quarter to show more users, more revenue, and a clearer path to profit, even as these companies spend heavily on chips, data centers, and other infrastructure.

That is a much harder audience than private backers. Nigel Green of deVere Group said expectations that feel manageable in private markets can become relentless under public ownership, and analysts will likely press leaders on whether the companies can keep funding their growth.

• Questions will center on profitability
• Infrastructure spending will face scrutiny
• Product delays may draw public criticism
• New features must translate into paid demand

5. The chip-stock warning sign

The market has already shown how unforgiving it can be, even before these IPOs land. Broadcom reported 48% revenue growth and expected semiconductor growth of 180% year over year, yet its shares still fell more than 13% in one week. Nvidia also lost $600 billion in market value in a single day in January 2025 after DeepSeek emerged.

That backdrop tells AI executives what they are walking into. The market is not just asking whether AI is growing. It is asking whether growth is fast enough, durable enough, and profitable enough to justify prices that are already very high.

• Broadcom share drop: more than 13% in a week
• Nvidia one-day loss: $600 billion
• Market message: strong growth may still not be enough

How to decide

If you want the purest AI software test, watch OpenAI and Anthropic. OpenAI is the consumer giant with the biggest brand, while Anthropic is the enterprise contender with a fast-rising valuation and revenue run rate. If you want the broader market signal, watch SpaceX’s debut too, because it will show how investors price AI exposure when it is bundled with a larger frontier-tech story.

For readers tracking the sector, the key question is simple: can these companies keep growing fast enough once Wall Street asks for proof every three months?