Anthropic Files for IPO Before OpenAI: What the AI Listing Race Means for ASX Tech Stocks

Anthropic Files for IPO Before OpenAI- What It Means for ASX Tech Stocks

Anthropic, the company that makes the Claude AI chatbot, has confidentially filed to go public in the US, and it beat its bigger rival OpenAI to it. The move landed on 1 June and surprised markets, since both companies were expected to list later in the year. A confidential filing means the full financial details stay under wraps while regulators review them, so there’s no public prospectus to read just yet. But the message for investors is simple: the race to make money from artificial intelligence has just sped up, and that matters for AI-linked stocks on the ASX too.

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Why Anthropic Beat OpenAI to the Filing

Two years ago, Anthropic was the underdog. Today, it is arguably the leader. Just days before filing, it raised US$65 billion from investors, a deal that valued the company at US$965 billion, pushing it past OpenAI for the first time. Its sales are growing at an almost unheard-of speed too: it’s now on track to bring in around US$47 billion a year, up from roughly US$9 billion at the end of 2025.

So why rush to list now? In our view, the timing shows how tight the race has become. The first company to go public usually grabs the most investor attention and the most fresh cash. Anthropic clearly wants to be first, while OpenAI is preparing its own filing and is said to be worried about being beaten.

The real takeaway is what this says about demand. A company doesn’t chase a near-trillion-dollar listing unless investors believe the AI boom has plenty of room left to run.

What It Means for ASX Tech Stocks

Here’s where it gets interesting for Australian investors, because AI cuts both ways on the ASX.

On the winning side are the “picks and shovels” stocks, the ones that supply the gear and buildings AI needs to run. The clearest example is data centre owner NextDC (ASX:NXT), which is building a massive AU$7 billion AI data centre campus in Western Sydney, with OpenAI signed on as its foundational customer, the first big tenant that makes the project stack up. As the AI giants grow, they’ll need more of these power-hungry data centres, and NextDC is right in the thick of it. Macquarie Technology Group (ASX:MAQ) is a smaller company playing the same game.

The other side is trickier. Software firms like WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) and Xero (ASX:XRO) have been knocked by one big worry: that smarter AI could one day replace the kind of software they sell. That fear pushed parts of the sector down through 2025. The upside? It has left some strong companies looking cheaper than they have in years.

The Investor’s Takeaway

For ASX investors, the first thing to know is that you can’t buy Anthropic on the local market, so this filing is a signal to read, not a stock to chase. And it’s a strong one: the smart money is still pouring into AI, which keeps the wind behind Australian companies tied to the build-out. The “picks and shovels” names, like NextDC, are the most direct way to ride that demand here at home.

But it cuts both ways. A near-trillion-dollar price tag on a company that isn’t yet profitable is exactly what fuels “AI bubble” talk, and if the mood turns, the priciest AI stocks tend to fall the hardest. In our view, the AI trade still looks attractive for investors who can handle the risk and think in years, not weeks, as long as you stick with companies that have real revenue and a clear role in the build-out and let valuation, not hype, decide where your money goes.