Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs Set to Create AI Wealth Boom in San Francisco, but Job Displacement Widens Economic Divide

Anthropic is accelerating toward a multibillion-dollar initial public offering this fall, while OpenAI has delayed its market debut, setting the stage for a massive wealth transfer among AI insiders—even as automation threatens to displace hundreds of thousands of workers across cognitive and service sectors. Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI model, confidentially filed for an IPO on June 1 after securing $65 billion in Series H funding at a $965 billion valuation. The company's public listing—now expected in mid-to-late October following SEC review and investor roadshow meetings—could value it at $1 to $2 trillion, according to analyst projections. This would make Anthropic's debut the largest IPO in U.S. history, eclipsing even SpaceX's $1.77 trillion offering in June 2026. Anthropic's current run-rate revenue stands at $47 billion annually, supported by partnerships with Amazon Web Services, SpaceX, and CoreWeave, positioning the company ahead of competitors in frontier model development. OpenAI, by contrast, announced on September 13 that it will not pursue an IPO in 2026. CEO Sam Altman said going public now would be "ill-advised" given intensifying debate around AI safety and recent security concerns. OpenAI has shifted its timeline to 2027, ceding the near-term advantage to Anthropic while maintaining higher expected valuations of around $1 trillion when it eventually lists.