{"id":40498,"date":"2026-05-15T21:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/40498\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T21:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:04:11","slug":"openai-and-anthropic-cfos-are-racing-for-compute-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/40498\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI and Anthropic CFOs Are Racing For Compute Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"SideBoth about two years into their jobs, Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao (left) and OpenAI\u2019s Sarah Friar are locked in a high-stakes race to secure compute power. Photos courtesy Anthropic\/by Brian Lawless-Pool for Getty Images<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one thing top of mind for CFOs at A.I. companies: compute power. As their firms race to dominate Silicon Valley\u2014and trounce one another\u2014OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao<\/a>\u00a0are focused on raising funds, securing chip deals and tracking demand for compute.<\/p>\n

Compute power is a \u201chuge competitive advantage<\/a>,\u201d especially in a landscape where \u201cthere\u2019s not a lot of compute in 2026,\u201d said Friar, 53, in an interview with Bloomberg<\/a> TV today (May 15). Securing enough capacity to meet demand is particularly challenging for OpenAI<\/a>, which has more than 900 million weekly active ChatGPT users and an enterprise sales team \u201crun ragged\u201d by businesses eager to adopt its models.<\/p>\n

Before joining OpenAI, Friar was CEO of Nextdoor<\/a> from 2018 to 2024 and spent six years as CFO of Square<\/a>, following roles at Salesforce<\/a>, Goldman Sachs<\/a> and McKinsey.<\/p>\n

Anthropic<\/a>, OpenAI\u2019s primary rival, is equally focused on securing chips. \u201cThe compute that we procure, it\u2019s the lifeblood of our business<\/a>\u2014it is the most important thing in the company,\u201d said Rao, 43, on an episode of the Invest Like The Best podcast published May 13. He added that he spends 30 percent to 40 percent of his time on compute-related decisions.<\/p>\n

Like Friar, Rao is about two years into his current role. He previously served as CFO of Fanatics<\/a> and Cedar, after a six-year stint at Airbnb<\/a> and earlier work as a senior associate at Blackstone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both executives face a delicate balancing act: deciding how much compute to secure as their companies scale rapidly. These are \u201csome of the most consequential and hardest decisions\u201d a business can make, Rao said. Too much compute risks overspending; too little leaves customer demand unmet. \u201cYou have to really think ahead to plan this.\u201d<\/p>\n

To meet their needs, both companies rely on a mix of suppliers. Anthropic primarily uses Nvidia<\/a> GPUs, Google<\/a> TPUs and Amazon<\/a>\u2019s Tranium chips. OpenAI also works with Nvidia and Amazon, while incorporating AMD chips, developing in-house hardware with Broadcom<\/a> and deploying compute from Cerebras Systems, which went public yesterday<\/a> (May 14).<\/p>\n

The high cost of A.I. infrastructure has driven massive fundraising. \u201cIt\u2019s a capital-intensive business,\u201d said Rao. When he joined Anthropic, the company was closing a $750 million round at a $15 billion valuation. It is now reportedly seeking a $30 billion round that could value it at $900 billion<\/a>\u2014potentially surpassing OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in March following a $122 billion cash injection.<\/p>\n

OpenAI is also considering additional fundraising. While its recent twelve-figure raise \u201cgives us a lot of optionality,\u201d Friar said she isn\u2019t \u201caverse to raising more capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded a decade ago, OpenAI has long led the A.I. race. But Anthropic, launched in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is rapidly closing the gap. Its revenue run rate surpassed $30 billion in April, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025. OpenAI reported $24 billion in annualized revenue as of March, though the figures aren\u2019t directly comparable, since OpenAI doesn\u2019t include cloud partner sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both companies are also moving toward public markets in what could be two of Silicon Valley\u2019s most anticipated IPOs. Anthropic\u2019s offering could\u00a0arrive by the end of the year<\/a>, while OpenAI\u2019s\u00a0may come in the second half of 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite calling private markets \u201cincredibly generous to us,\u201d Friar said public markets offer greater scale over time. \u201cWe want to be able to, over the long run, raise money across the whole spectrum\u2014and the public markets are significantly bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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