June 8 (Reuters) - OpenAI said on Monday it has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, joining rival Anthropic in a push toward the stock market as investors seek exposure to the artificial intelligence boom.
Wall Street is betting 2026 could be a breakout year for the U.S. IPO market, underpinned by a strong pipeline of high-profile private companies and pent-up demand for new listings.
Goldman Sachs predicted earlier this year that proceeds from U.S. IPOs could vault to a record
$160 billion in 2026, should the marquee names go public this year.
Here is an overview of some of the mega IPOs expected in 2026:
OPENAI
The ChatGPT-maker said on Monday it recently submitted a confidential filing for a U.S. listing, though it has not decided on timing of the IPO yet.
The Sam Altman-led company said that the IPO may take a while because there are "things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company."
"But it's a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best."
It did not disclose the size or terms of the offering, but Reuters has reported that the AI giant is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion in a stock market debut that could come as early as September.
ANTHROPIC
AI heavyweight Anthropic revealed it had confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO earlier this month, setting the stage for what could become a watershed moment for Wall Street's AI frenzy.
Anthropic, which operates AI chatbot Claude, last raised $65 billion at a post-money valuation of $965 billion in late May, putting it ahead of rival OpenAI.
SPACEX
Elon Musk's SpaceX filed publicly for its hotly anticipated U.S. initial public offering last month, moving the firm closer to what could be the biggest stock market flotation ever.
SpaceX has accelerated its IPO timeline, with a roadshow launch targeted for June 4 and the share sale as early as June 11, Reuters reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter.
In February, SpaceX acquired Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI in a record-setting deal, unifying his AI and space ambitions by combining the company with the maker of the Grok chatbot.
If SpaceX raises $75 billion, it would be the world's largest IPO, eclipsing oil major Saudi Aramco's 2019 listing.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Pooja Desai and Leroy Leo)
