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The race to the IPO line heated up this week with Anthropic hiring an experienced initial public offering law firm, while OpenAI’s boss called for product development to speed up.
This week, the Financial Times reported Anthropic was in early talks to launch what could be one of the largest public offerings ever, as early as 2026.
Anthropic was founded in 2021 and based out of San Francisco. In 2023, it developed Claude, an AI assistant and chatbot built for processing long documents and more technical tasks.
It was reported the AI giant had hired Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati – a law firm experienced with taking US tech companies such as Google public – and there had been early discussions with investment banks about a possible IPO.
The FT reported Anthropic was also pursuing a capital raise backed by Microsoft and Nvidia, which could value Anthropic above US$300 billion ($520.7b).
Anthropic developed AI chatbot, Claude.
Meanwhile, this week, the boss of rival AI company OpenAI declared a ‘code red’ to improve the development of its own chatbot, ChatGPT.
According to an internal memo sent to staff, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company was at a “critical time” for ChatGTP. Altman previously expected Google’s AI latest model Gemini 3 to create “temporary economic headwinds” for the company.
Open AI has also been rumoured to be considering going public. At the end of last month, Reuters reported the groundwork for an IPO that could value the company at up to US$1 trillion. If it progresses, it would be considered one of the largest IPOs of all time.
OpenAI’s chief financial officer Sarah Friar reportedly told some associates the company was aiming for 2027, but other people familiar with the company have predicted an IPO could take place in late 2026. The company – backed by companies such as SoftBank investment group and Microsoft – has been valued at US$500b.
This week, OpenAI also inked an agreement to became an anchor tenant of NextDC’s A$7b ($8b) data centre, to be built in Sydney. “Australia is well-placed to be a global leader in AI, with deep technical talent, strong institutions, and a clear ambition to use new technology to lift productivity,” OpenAI’s Altman said.
Amova New Zealand portfolio manager Michael De Cesare said the number of contracts NextDC signed in the first four months of this fiscal year was about about the same as the entire year last year.
Despite the positive news regarding the new contracts, De Cesare said NextDC's stock failed to rally, and described it as indicative of "market jitters".
He said the market sentiment around AI remains mixed. "There are still plenty of enthusiasts, a lot of money being committed to the space. There's also a degree of caution growing."
Apple shipments are expected to hit record levels for the iPhone 17 model.
Demand for Apple
In other news, Apple is on track to have a strong year, bolstered by demand for its iPhone 17. A report by technology analysis company International Data Corporation (IDC) published this week forecasted Apple would ship more than 247 million iPhones this year, up 6.1% year on year. The shipment record is up from the 236 million units sold in 2021, when the iPhone 13 was released.
The increased demand stemmed from China, considered Apple’s largest market.
Apple’s stock price lifted to nearly US$287 per share on Tuesday when the report was published, up from about US$283 per share the day before.
This week, Apple reported more departures from its executive team, including its design executive Alan Dye, who will move to Meta next year. The departures added fuel to concerns the company was facing a brain drain of top talent.
Closer to home, this week, Locate Technologies joined the NZX.
The Bitcoin treasury company – which migrated over from the ASX, where it launched an IPO in May – listed 58.3 million shares, capitalising the company at $4.38m. All its shares were transferred from the ASX to the NZX through a so-called ‘top hat’ arrangement. However, its Australian-centred operations, management, and strategy remain unchanged.
Locate Technologies gained 6.7%, or 0.5 of a cent, to 8 cents during its first day of trading on Wednesday.
