Buyers scooping up coveted Anthropic shares have vaulted the AI giant\u2019s valuation on some trading platforms to $1 trillion \u2013 eclipsing OpenAI\u2019s market capitalization by over $100 billion in a sea change in the AI race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The investor scramble has ratcheted up in recent weeks, tech financiers told The Post \u2013 at the same time demand for OpenAI shares is sagging.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The valuation run-up is playing out on so-called secondary markets, where shares of still-private companies are traded, and comes ahead of expected initial public offerings from the artificial intelligence giants that would shower shareholders with returns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Hype around Anthropic\u2019s latest model, Claude Mythos<\/a>, may have contributed to the spike in valuation. The company itself has warned that the tech, designed to unearth cyber threats, is too dangerous to be released widely \u2014 a stance some view as a canny publicity move.<\/p>\n Anthropic has also seen huge revenue growth, from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to over $30 billion by the end of March.<\/a> The company credited widespread adoption of its commercially available Claude services for the surge.<\/p>\n CEO Dario Amodei\u2019s public feud about safety protocols with the Trump administration \u2014 which recently blacklisted the company from working with the Pentagon \u2014 appears to have had little effect on traders. The exec reportedly met with White House officials last week<\/a>, part of efforts to lower tensions.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, demand for OpenAI shares is reportedly flagging. Institutional investors seeking to sell $600 million of the company\u2019s shares couldn\u2019t find buyers as of the end of March, according to Bloomberg News<\/a>. That\u2019s even as OpenAI wrapped up its biggest-ever fundraising round from other tech companies \u2014 drawing $122 billion.<\/p>\n Anthropic overtaking OpenAI\u2019s valuation \u201csays more about the quality of what Anthropic has delivered to its enterprise clients than anything else,\u201d Mike Sobel, president and co-founder of secondary trading firm Scenic Advisement, told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cThe quality of Anthropic\u2019s earnings are just better,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Private stock marketplace Hiive told The Post that the price for Anthropic shares has surged 211% to roughly $900 over the past three months, becoming one of the most actively traded companies on its platform. <\/p>\n Shares of OpenAI have risen just 8.5% to $608 over the same period, according to Hiive\u2019s data.<\/p>\n Anthropic\u2019s valuation has reached $1 trillion. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n While valuations of private companies in between funding rounds can be tricky to calculate, info on Hiive points to a $1 trillion valuation for Anthropic.<\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s share price has remained roughly in line with its $852 billion valuation from its most recent funding round.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRumors of strong revenue performance in Q1 appear to be pushing the valuation higher,\u201d said Hiive CEO Sim Desai, noting Anthropic\u2019s recent price jump is 10 times Hiive\u2019s index of its 50 most liquid pre-IPO securities. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen sharp price acceleration in recent weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Sobel scooped up a slice of Anthropic shares in 2024 at a $19 billion valuation as part of FTX\u2019s bankruptcy proceedings after the Sam Bankman-Fried-led crypto exchange imploded<\/a>. The position \u2013 which accounts for roughly 9% of Scenic Advisement\u2019s portfolio \u2013 could return 20 times Sobel\u2019s initial investment if Anthropic keeps trading around $1 trillion by the time it holds an IPO.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n There\u2019s no known date from an IPO from either Anthropic or OpenAI. The Post has sought comment from both companies.<\/p>\n Sobel said he has no intention of selling his shares of Anthropic, which he called a \u201cgenerational company.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEveryday I\u2019m getting calls from people wanting to buy my Anthropic shares,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cI had billionaire family offices call me desperately wanting to buy a couple million dollars of shares virtually at any price. I mean, within reason. Everyone is seriously chasing this,\u201d<\/p>\n OpenAI was valued at $852 billion during its most recent funding round in March. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n The fervor for Anthropic shares has led to some unusual offers.<\/p>\n One Silicon Valley dealmaker proposed swapping his 14-acre estate for Anthropic shares, The Post reported<\/a>. Storm Duncan, the founder of tech-focused investment bank Ignatious, remarked that agreeing on a valuation for the AI darling could be tricky given how it seems to be shooting up daily.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Jesse Leimgruber, founder of San Francisco AI hardware startup OpenHome, wrote this week on X that a \u201cvery well known growth fund\u201d offered to buy Anthropic shares at a $1.05 trillion valuation. He called the bid \u201cabsolutely wild.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n