Anthropic’s rapid growth puts pressure on OpenAI valuation

OpenAI is facing skepticism from some of its own investors regarding its $852 billion valuation, according to reporting from the Financial Times. The skepticism comes as the artificial-intelligence company attempts to reorient its business around enterprise customers to fend off competition from rival Anthropic.

Anthropic has experienced rapid financial growth, with its annualized revenue jumping from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to $30 billion by the end of March. This growth is asserted to be driven largely by demand for its coding tools. In contrast, OpenAI shares are trading at a discount on the secondary market—the private market where investors buy and sell existing shares of private companies. One investor who backed both companies told the Financial Times that justifying OpenAI’s recent funding round required assuming an initial public offering (IPO) valuation of $1.2 trillion or more. This makes Anthropic’s current $380 billion valuation look like a relative bargain, especially as secondary market demand for Anthropic shares has grown strong.

These valuation dynamics recall previous tech cycles. During Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman’s tenure leading startup accelerator Y Combinator, aggressive valuation inflation left some portfolio companies financially stranded, while others ultimately proved their worth.

OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar pushed back against the skepticism, stating that the company’s $122 billion private fundraising round was evidence of continued investor confidence. However, other market observers remain unconvinced. Jai Das, the president of investment firm Sapphire Ventures, compared OpenAI to “the Netscape of AI.” Netscape was the pioneering web browser of the 1990s that initially dominated the market but was eventually overtaken by Microsoft and later absorbed by AOL. The comparison suggests that OpenAI, despite its early lead, could risk being overtaken by larger competitors.

Why it matters

The shift highlights how secondary market sentiment and rapid revenue growth at competitors like Anthropic are challenging the narrative of OpenAI’s market dominance.