OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX are heading to Wall Street, where quarterly earnings calls will replace the patient vision-backing of private investors. The shift means AI companies will face relentless pressure to prove they can grow fast enough to justify their trillion-dollar valuations, and that pressure could reshape which products survive and which get cut.

What Happens When AI Companies Go Public?

OpenAI announced plans to go public after Anthropic confidentially filed for an IPO, with SpaceX set to make its market debut on Friday. These three offerings are expected to provide the closest look yet at the state of the AI market and potentially rack up hundreds of billions of dollars in stock sales.

The challenge is stark: private investors can back a vision and wait years for results. Public markets rarely offer that luxury. Wall Street already has sky-high expectations for AI, leaving no room for anything short of blockbuster growth each quarter. Even companies with jaw-dropping performance face skepticism. Broadcom, which previously struck partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic, reported revenue growth of 48% for the second quarter and expected semiconductor growth of 180% compared to the previous year. But that wasn't enough to impress investors; Broadcom shares were down over 13% last week, marking its worst week since September 2024.

"Expectations that seem manageable in private markets can become relentless under the glare of public ownership," said Nigel Green, CEO of financial advisory firm deVere Group.

Nigel Green, CEO at deVere Group

How Will Public Scrutiny Change Product Decisions?

Analysts will likely grill OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei about the future of their businesses and upcoming products on earnings calls, looking for signs that they have endless potential for growth. That means they may have to answer publicly about things like delays in upcoming model releases, how they plan to translate those models into paid products, and product pivots. Product decisions like OpenAI's decision to shutter its video app Sora will likely face much more questioning.

The stakes are already visible in the broader AI market. AI chip stocks sank last week, with the Nasdaq falling for three consecutive days and the S&P 500 experiencing its worst day since October. An exchange-traded fund that tracks memory chip stocks was down 15% last week. Even Nvidia, the world's most valuable public company, has faced similar scrutiny. In January 2025, the AI chipmaker lost a record 600 billion dollars in market value in a single day after DeepSeek, a new Chinese competitor, emerged in the market.

What Numbers Are OpenAI and Anthropic Showing Investors?

Both companies have provided signals about their growth, though they've chosen to share these statistics publicly rather than out of legal responsibility. OpenAI said it raised 122 billion dollars in March, pushing its valuation to 852 billion dollars. It also said that month that it's generating 2 billion dollars in revenue every month, a jump from the 1 billion dollars it was previously generating every quarter.

ChatGPT also became the fastest app to reach one billion users last month, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. It took apps like Google Maps, TikTok, and YouTube five to eight years to achieve that milestone, while ChatGPT reached it in about three years.

Anthropic's growth trajectory is equally aggressive. The company's valuation jumped from 380 billion dollars in February to 965 billion dollars in May, surpassing OpenAI. Anthropic also said last month that it achieved 47 billion dollars in run-rate revenue, a metric that estimates future annual revenue based on current financial data. More businesses used Anthropic than OpenAI for the first time in May, according to fintech firm Ramp.

Steps to Understanding the IPO Impact on AI Product Strategy

• Monitor Earnings Calls: When OpenAI and Anthropic report quarterly results, listen for analyst questions about product roadmaps, discontinued projects, and profitability timelines. These calls will reveal which products Wall Street values most.
• Track Revenue Metrics: Watch how each company breaks down revenue by product line. If video generation tools like Sora aren't generating significant revenue, public markets may pressure executives to discontinue them in favor of higher-margin products.
• Follow Valuation Trends: Compare how the stock market values AI companies against their spending on infrastructure and R&D. If investors punish companies for "wasteful" spending on experimental products, expect more product shutdowns.
• Assess Competitive Pressure: Public companies face quarterly comparisons with competitors. If Runway or other video generation startups gain market share, OpenAI may face pressure to either double down on Sora or abandon it entirely.

The IPO could indicate OpenAI and Anthropic have grown confident enough in their respective paths to profitability to face Wall Street. But the numbers are just the beginning. Wall Street will be looking for signs that both companies have the cash to back up their massive spending on AI infrastructure while also delivering consistent, explosive growth every three months.

"People want more," said Stacy Rasgon, an analyst with Bernstein tracking the semiconductor market. "They always want more."

Stacy Rasgon, Analyst at Bernstein

For product teams at these companies, the message is clear: public ownership means every project must justify its existence in terms of revenue potential and growth trajectory. Experimental products like Sora, which OpenAI has already discontinued, may face even tougher scrutiny as Wall Street demands to know why resources are being spent on ventures that don't immediately contribute to the bottom line. The hard part, as one analyst noted, is about to begin.