OpenAI and Anthropic are becoming increasingly important to the broader AI trade as investors assess whether strong revenue growth can support their valuations, capital needs, and potential public listings.
OpenAI has delayed a potential IPO until 2027 after CEO Sam Altman called a 2026 listing "ill-advised," citing concerns around AI safety, governance and model alignment.
Anthropic, meanwhile, is preparing for a possible public debut as early as mid-November 2026 after confidentially filing for an IPO, with reports pointing to a potential $2 trillion valuation and a raise of up to $100 billion.
Gabelli Funds portfolio manager John Belton sees stronger financial disclosure as a positive for the market. At the same time, Tusk Ventures founder and CEO Bradley Tusk questions whether public-market pressure could create new risks.
Belton Says Revenue Growth Is Driving the AI Trade
Belton said investors are closely watching OpenAI and Anthropic because their revenue trends have helped shape sentiment across AI-related stocks.
"My view is, the sooner we get financials for those companies out in the public domain, the healthier it's going to be for the market," Belton said.
He told CNBC last Friday that technology stocks have generally performed best when investors received evidence that revenue at OpenAI and Anthropic continued to grow.
"That has really been the story of 2026, revenue growth at those companies," Belton said.
Belton described OpenAI and Anthropic as bellwethers for generative AI and said their combined annual recurring revenue is approaching $150 billion.
He believes continued adoption and monetization of AI products can give companies confidence to keep investing in infrastructure while encouraging investors to support that spending.
Tusk Questions Public-Market Pressure
Tusk takes a more cautious view of an Anthropic IPO, particularly given CEO Dario Amodei's focus on AI safety.
"By definition, every quarter, investors are going to be asking, 'Where's the growth?'" Tusk told CNBC last Friday.
He argued that pressure to meet revenue targets could encourage companies to release increasingly sophisticated models even when management has safety concerns.
Tusk said the same broader tension applies to OpenAI as both companies balance large capital requirements with pressure to grow.
Valuation Could Become a Test
Tusk raised concerns about a potential AI bubble, warning that Anthropic's lofty valuation may be difficult to sustain without continued rapid revenue growth.
"If there is an AI bubble, and I'm pretty convinced that there is, once you really expose it, that's when you really run the risk."
He said Anthropic trades at roughly 27 times revenue under a generous estimate. "That's probably not sustainable unless you're producing continuous revenue, heading into 2027," Tusk said.
Tusk also warned that taking Anthropic public could expose its valuation to greater scrutiny and put pressure on the company to prioritize revenue growth over AI safety.
He suggested that remaining private could help shield the broader stock market from a potential correction in AI valuations, given the financial exposure of major technology companies to the sector.
He argued that Anthropic and OpenAI should focus on raising the capital they actually need at valuations they can justify rather than simply pursuing the highest possible figure.
"The goal isn't to have a really good story on Wall Street, the goal is to ultimately have a good exit," Tusk said.
Open Models Could Add Competitive Pressure
Tusk also questioned whether most customers need the capabilities offered by the most advanced models.
He said lower-cost or free open models, including Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ: META) Llama, could meet many everyday needs and potentially challenge the economic model behind ever-larger investments by Anthropic and OpenAI.
