Wall Street Tells Anthropic, OpenAI to List Before 2027

Wall Street is pressing Anthropic and OpenAI to take their blockbuster IPOs public sooner rather than later, and the push is about more than the risk of an AI bubble, according to the New York Post’s On The Money column by Charlie Gasparino, which says it learned of the advice from insiders.

The core fear, per the Post’s sources, is politics. Big investors are worried about Democrats taking control of Congress after the November election, with Democratic Socialists on Capitol Hill grilling tech executives over AI-driven job losses, deepfakes and more. “It will be years of hearings, investigations and nonstop turmoil,” one major Wall Street deal lawyer told the Post. “We’re advising that people do their IPOs before the end of the year before things get crazy.”

The Post reports that Anthropic will likely release its official offering statement, known as an S-1, any day now, in preparation for an IPO before Thanksgiving. Representatives for Anthropic had no immediate comment.

OpenAI is the bigger question mark. The Post notes that CEO Sam Altman said last month the company isn’t planning to go public until next year, partly citing AI safety concerns. Wall Street heavyweights, per the Post, will urgently advise the ChatGPT owner to move after the election but before Jan. 3, when Democrats would formally take over if they win. An OpenAI spokesperson told the Post the company has not set a timeline for an IPO and that its priority is safety, adding that it will not go public this year.

Also on the horizon, according to the Post, is what it calls a “monster” secondary stock offering by Meta to bankroll its AI buildout, which could land in the coming months.

The Post lays out caveats. Anthropic could get cold feet if investors conclude AI valuations have peaked, and Republicans could hold both chambers despite President Trump’s unpopularity. If Democrats win both chambers, as polls suggest is highly plausible, the Post says the result could be legislative gridlock, since Trump would still hold the White House. Markets traditionally like gridlock, but the Post argues that view may not hold this year because many incoming Democrats come from the far left and some are outright socialists promising the fiercest opposition to Trump the country has seen.

AI policy is already shifting in tight races, the column says. Even some GOP congressional contenders are backing off the administration’s growth-at-all-costs line, and many candidates in both parties now want a slowdown in AI infrastructure buildout and real benefits for communities where big data centers are proposed, so those sites don’t drain power and water supplies.

On the map, the Post reports the whisper number on Wall Street is that the House is gone to the Democrats, with a nearly 70 percent chance of winning the Senate. Michigan is a toss-up that slightly favors Democrat Abdul El-Sayed over Republican Mike Rogers, and in Texas, Democrat James Talarico is slightly ahead of Ken Paxton, who the Post says is fumbling badly but could be helped by Gov. Greg Abbott’s re-election run. The Post’s bottom line for AI heavyweights: act now. All of the above reflects the Post’s reporting and its unnamed sources, not confirmed plans from the companies.