OpenAI, Anthropic valuations questioned

Private investors are starting to ask whether the biggest artificial intelligence companies can really justify valuations near $1 trillion. Reuters reported on April 14 that some OpenAI backers are questioning the company’s $852 billion price tag, while Bloomberg reported Anthropic has received offers implying valuations around $800 billion. (reuters.com) (finance.yahoo.com) A private-company valuation is the price investors agree to pay in a funding round, not a public stock-market verdict. OpenAI said on March 31 that it closed a $122 billion round at an $852 billion post-money valuation, meaning the new cash was included in that figure. (cnbc.com) Reuters said the Financial Times reported some OpenAI investors are uneasy because the company has shifted harder toward selling to businesses and has changed its product roadmap twice in six months. Those investors told the Financial Times the changes could leave OpenAI more exposed to Anthropic and Alphabet’s Google as it prepares for a possible initial public offering as early as 2026. (reuters.com) Anthropic is being pulled in the opposite direction. Bloomberg reported on April 14 that investors have approached the Claude maker with offers for a new financing at about $800 billion or more, but Anthropic has so far resisted those overtures. (finance.yahoo.com) The jump is sharp even by 2026 standards. Bloomberg reported Anthropic’s February fundraising carried a $350 billion pre-money valuation, and the same report said the new inbound offers would be more than double that level. (bloomberg.com) (finance.yahoo.com) What investors are really testing is whether revenue growth can keep up with capital needs. Anthropic said earlier in April that its annual run-rate revenue had reached $30 billion, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025, and more than 1,000 business customers were spending over $1 million a year. (finance.yahoo.com) OpenAI’s earlier benchmark was far lower. Bloomberg reported in March 2025 that OpenAI was close to a $40 billion SoftBank-led round valuing the company at $300 billion, which shows how quickly private-market prices have climbed in about a year. (bloomberg.com) Both companies are also raising money in a market that rewards scale before profits. CNBC said OpenAI’s March 31 round included SoftBank and other investors and came as the company cut back some spending plans and closed some products while facing pressure to support its valuation ahead of a possible public offering. (cnbc.com) The immediate question is not whether either company can raise money. It is whether private investors will keep accepting prices that outrun recent funding rounds by hundreds of billions of dollars. (reuters.com) (finance.yahoo.com)