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OpenAI has pushed its IPO to 2027 or later, and Anthropic’s planned Nasdaq listing is clouded by a broader industry reckoning over the pace of AI development.
SoftBank shareholders got the memo first. The Japanese conglomerate’s stock dropped 13% on September 14, 2026, after the implications of the slowdown narrative started to crystallize.
The safety pivot
On September 12, 2026, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling for a coordinated pacing of AI development rather than a full stop. His argument centered on third-party evaluators and common safety standards, essentially proposing that the industry collectively agree to pump the brakes without anyone having to be the first to unilaterally slow down.
Sam Altman backed the approach almost immediately. In a Fortune interview the same day, the OpenAI CEO confirmed that a 2026 IPO is off the table, framing the delay as a matter of safety priorities. The timing was notable: OpenAI had confidentially filed its S-1 with the SEC just three months earlier, on June 8, 2026. Anthropic had filed its own paperwork on June 1.
Anthropic had been targeting an October or November 2026 Nasdaq listing with a valuation of up to $2 trillion, aiming to raise as much as $100 billion. That figure includes a potential $10 billion investment from Nvidia. The company’s last private valuation sat at $965 billion.
OpenAI, valued at $852 billion in its March 2026 private round, has deferred its public offering to 2027 or later. The company pointed to safety concerns, but market observers noted another factor: the disappointing post-IPO performance of SpaceX, which apparently served as a cautionary tale about rushing to public markets with a sky-high valuation.
The numbers behind the nervousness
OpenAI posted a $21 billion net loss against $13 billion in revenue in a recent fiscal year. OpenAI has committed to roughly $600 billion in compute and hardware spending through 2030.
Anthropic has publicly stated it doesn’t expect to break even before 2028. The company is asking the public markets to value it at $2 trillion while acknowledging profitability is at least two years away.
The skeptics weigh in
Not everyone is buying the safety narrative at face value. Investor Michael Burry, who famously shorted the housing market before the 2008 financial crisis, has raised concerns that the safety framing is at least partially self-serving. His argument: by advocating for an industry-wide slowdown, OpenAI and Anthropic can stabilize their financial positions and control the competitive landscape while appearing to act responsibly.
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