Shares of AI startup Anthropic have become the hottest commodity on the secondary market, while OpenAI's stock is losing its appeal to buyers. This was reported by TechCrunch, citing Glen Anderson, president of investment bank Rainmaker Securities.
His firm has been a broker in the private company stock market since 2010, covering around a thousand different firms.
The expert confirmed Bloomberg's reports of soaring demand for Anthropic. The CEO of Next Round Capital stated that potential buyers are ready to invest $2 billion in the startup. In contrast, current OpenAI shareholders are struggling to sell their assets even for $600 million.
"The hardest-to-get shares on our trading platform are those of Anthropic. There are simply no sellers," Anderson said.
Reasons for the Surge and OpenAI's Discount
One factor driving the surge in interest for Anthropic is its confrontation with the U.S. Department of Defense.
"Their application has become more popular. People have rallied behind the company as a sort of hero challenging the government. This has amplified its resonance and further distinguished it from OpenAI," the expert noted.
However, this does not mean that Sam Altman's startup is in dire straits, Anderson emphasized. Institutional investors are still eager to invest in both companies.
"I wouldn't say it's a choice between one or the other. But the enthusiasm is gone. It's not nearly as dynamic a market as Anthropic's right now," he remarked.
Anderson confirmed Bloomberg's information that OpenAI shares on the secondary market are trading based on a total business valuation of $765 billion. The shares are being sold at a significant discount compared to a recent funding round that valued the company at $852 billion.
SpaceX: A Hidden Giant Valued at $2 Trillion
Amid the competition between the two AI giants, the market often overlooks SpaceX. Anderson stated that it is one of the few companies in Rainmaker's portfolio that has never faced a severe correction or a 60–70% drop in stock value.
Elon Musk's firm has been "virtually constantly growing and evolving." The analyst noted that the management adheres to strict pricing discipline and does not attempt to maximize returns from each funding round.
"Many companies succumb to the temptation to raise their stock prices as high as possible in each round. The problem is that this approach leaves no room for error," the expert explained.
This cautious approach has yielded enormous profits for early investors. In 2015, Google and Fidelity invested $1 billion in SpaceX at a valuation of $12 billion. Considering the target metrics for the upcoming listing, their returns could exceed their initial investments by more than 100 times.
Record IPO and Market Impact
It seems that Musk's company is on the verge of an IPO. SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO, aiming to raise between $50 billion and $75 billion in June at a valuation of $1.75 trillion. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that SpaceX has recently raised its target valuation to over $2 trillion.
"Today, I've been approached by a flood of investors asking if I can offer them SpaceX shares. Buyer demand is very active. But the supply is dwindling. The closer we get to the IPO, the less incentive existing shareholders have to sell their shares," Anderson stated.
A large SpaceX listing could hinder similar plans from OpenAI and Anthropic this year. The expert suggested that those who follow the space company might find themselves at a disadvantage.
"The money allocated for IPOs is limited. SpaceX will consume a significant portion of the liquidity," he added.
With a valuation exceeding $2 trillion, SpaceX would surpass all companies in the S&P 500 except for the top five: Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon. Additionally, the listing would break the historical record set by Saudi Aramco, which raised $29.4 billion in 2019 at a valuation of $1.7 trillion.
SpaceX intends to use the funds raised for the creation of data centers in space and cities on the Moon.
As a reminder, in January, Tesla revived a closed project, Dojo, for AI computations beyond Earth.