Anthropic Confidentially Files for IPO as OpenAI’s Altman Says He’s Not in a Listing Race

Anthropic submitted a confidential draft registration to the SEC on June 1, 2026, starting an IPO process that hinges on market conditions. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, speaking the same day, told CNBC he does not consider going public a competition. Altman discussed OpenAI’s “Stargate” data center project in Michigan, which will require roughly $50 billion—$16 billion for site and construction, and over $30 billion for equipment and computing. He defended the investment, citing breakthroughs in AI coding that have sharply boosted enterprise demand, with token usage growing faster than unit costs decline. Acknowledging criticism over return on AI spending, Altman said “a lot of resources are wasted” and accurate input-output measurement may take one to two years. He also observed that firms quickly adopting AI are hiring aggressively, while those blaming AI for layoffs are often slow to deploy it.