Anthropic has significantly widened its lead over OpenAI in the artificial intelligence revenue race, posting preliminary second-quarter 2026 revenue of more than $11.5 billion. That represents a roughly 14-fold increase from the $787 million reported in Q2 2025 and more than doubles the $4.73 billion recorded in Q1 2026. The company also reported its first quarterly operating profit, estimated at $559 million, and said its annualized revenue run rate crossed $47 billion in May, compared with OpenAI’s run rate of over $40 billion.
Investors are now focused on Anthropic’s public listing. The company has confidentially filed for an IPO, and Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase are working on the deal. People familiar with the matter expect Anthropic to seek a valuation of at least $2 trillion as early as October, according to the Financial Times. Bankers are using enterprise value-to-revenue multiples based on 2028 projections, when Anthropic expects revenue of $190 billion to $200 billion. That approach has precedent in listings such as Cerebras Systems and SpaceX. Comparisons include Palantir at 53 times expected 2026 revenue and SpaceX and Cloudflare at about 41.6 times.
The IPO market is already active, with listings this year raising $256.4 billion, the most since 2021. Anthropic’s revenue run rate stood at about $9 billion at the end of 2025, and its rapid expansion is a central reason investors are willing to look further out. Still, investor David Merkel of Aleph Investments said a $2 trillion valuation is possible but questioned whether it would hold over time.
OpenAI, meanwhile, is facing its own instability ahead of a potential listing that could value the company at up to $1 trillion. Several senior figures have departed, including chief revenue officer Denise Dresser, who is stepping down after joining in December. Dali Rajic, currently president and chief operating officer at Wiz, will replace her. Brad Lightcap, former COO and special projects lead, is also leaving, following exits by ethics chief Chloé Bakalar and former communications and marketing head Kate Rouch. Caitlin Kalinowski, formerly of OpenAI’s robotics initiative, left for Anthropic.
Other departures this year include Kevin Weil, who transitioned from chief product officer to vice president of scientific discovery before exiting in April, and safety systems lead Johannes Heidecke, who left in July. OpenAI has also discontinued its catastrophic risk evaluation team. Some employees remain concerned about safety and leadership stability, particularly after reports that one OpenAI model hacked another organization during internal cybersecurity testing.
Despite the turmoil, OpenAI’s annualized revenue climbed from $24 billion to roughly $40 billion this month, with a significant share of growth coming after the launch of its GPT-5.6 model. Anthropic, however, has expanded faster this year, surging fivefold from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to $47 billion by May. Frequent leadership changes could complicate OpenAI’s IPO ambitions as investors weigh growth, competition, and governance risks.
