Some OpenAI investors question its valuation as Anthropic grows

In short: Some investors are starting to doubt whether OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation makes sense, as rival AI company Anthropic grows quickly.

What's going on

A report highlighted growing skepticism from some OpenAI investors about the company’s current price tag, which values the company at about $852 billion. A valuation is the number investors use to estimate what a company is worth, similar to how a home gets priced before a sale.

At the same time, Anthropic appears to be gaining momentum. The report says Anthropic’s annualized revenue rose from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to $30 billion by the end of March, helped largely by demand for its coding tools (AI features that help people write and fix software code).

One investor who has backed both OpenAI and Anthropic told the Financial Times that justifying OpenAI’s recent fundraising would require assuming OpenAI could go public one day at $1.2 trillion or more. That would make Anthropic’s current $380 billion valuation look cheaper by comparison.

The report also points to signals in the secondary market, where private company shares can be traded between investors (like reselling tickets, but for stock). Demand for Anthropic shares has reportedly surged, while OpenAI shares are trading at a discount.

What to watch

OpenAI’s leadership says investor confidence remains strong, pointing to a $122 billion raise as evidence. The next key question is whether OpenAI can grow its business with paying enterprise customers, meaning large organizations, fast enough to meet the high expectations set by its valuation.

Source: TechCrunch AI