OpenAI's $852 Billion Valuation Questioned By Investors Amid Strategy Shift

As a potential IPO approaches, questions are being raised about OpenAI's valuation. The reason is that Anthropic's Claude is emerging as the superior model for business users, especially the enterprise market. And while OpenAI's ChatGPT remains immensely popular with consumers, the reality is that many of them are attracted to its lowest-capability free model. 

OpenAI appears somewhat panicked by this development. It fears both the financial and reputational cost of Anthropic's surpassing it as the more sophisticated AI. Its solution is to try to continue to build on its consumer success while also competing more seriously with Anthropic, but many investors doubt its ability to do so. The scrutiny of its valuation stems from both Anthropic's competitive challenge and the two-pronged strategy some believe will sap resources, weakening both efforts. JL

Ravikash Bakiola reports in Seeking Alpha:

OpenAI's $852B valuation is under scrutiny from some backers ​as the company shifts its focus to the enterprise ‌market to compete with Anthropic. Recent deals, initiatives, and abandoned projects are aimed at reorienting the company around a new strategy: defend ChatGPT’s dominance among consumers while taking on Anthropic in the higher-margin market for corporate AI services. Data from secondary marketplaces for both companies' stock indicate demand is higher for Anthropic, and, for the first time, buyers are placing a premium on the Claude chatbot maker over OpenAI. (But) the changes could leave it vulnerable to Anthropic and a resurgent Google. "You have ChatGPT, a 1bn-user business growing 50-100% a year, why are you talking about enterprise and code? It’s a deeply unfocused company."

OpenAI's (OPENAI) $852B valuation is under scrutiny from some of its own backers ​as the company shifts its focus to the enterprise ‌market to compete with Anthropic (ANTHRO), the Financial Times reported.

Several recent deals, initiatives, and abandoned projects are aimed at reorienting the company around a new strategy: defend ChatGPT’s dominance among consumers while taking on Anthropic in the higher-margin market for corporate AI services, the report added.

Some OpenAI investors told the news outlet the changes could leave it vulnerable to Anthropic and a resurgent Google, while preparing for a potential IPO as early as this year, the report noted.

"You have ChatGPT, a 1bn-user business growing 50-100 per cent a year, what are you doing talking about enterprise and code?" said one early backer of OpenAI, according to the report. "It’s a deeply unfocused company."

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.

Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI recently raised $122B in funding, valuing it at $852B, from investors, including SoftBank (SFTBY) (SFTBF), Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Thrive Capital.

"The suggestion that investors are not supportive of our strategy defies the facts," said OpenAI's CFO Sarah Friar, the report noted. "Our . . . raise, the largest in history, was oversubscribed, completed in record time and backed by a broad set of global investors, reflecting strong conviction in both our direction, current business momentum and long-term value."

The success of Anthropic has led to a strategic rethink. The Claude AI chatbot maker — which is backed by Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google — saw its annualized revenue surge from $9B at the end of 2025 to $30B at the end of March.

Anthropic’s business appears to have surpassed OpenAI, which reached $25B in annualized revenue in February, though the companies use different accounting methods to book revenue, making direct comparison difficult, the report added.

OpenAI’s Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser accused Anthropic of overstating their revenue “by roughly $8bn” by “grossing up [revenue] share with Amazon and Google,” in a note to staff on Sunday, as per the report.

Dresser noted that Anthropic’s “coding focus gave them an early wedge” in the race for enterprise customers, as per the report. But, she added that “the market is ours to win."

Friar said the company still had the support of its investors, given that OpenAI closed the biggest private fundraising of all time. The CFO said the $122B raising “gives us a lot of flexibility at this moment in time. I view my job as always [to create] max flexibility, max optionality for the company, because then we can make more strategic decisions.”

One investor who has backed both companies said that to underwrite an investment in OpenAI’s recent round, they would have to assume an IPO valuation of $1.2T or more, the report added.

Data from secondary marketplaces that trade proxies for both companies' stock indicate demand is higher for Anthropic, and, for the first time, buyers are placing a premium on the Claude chatbot maker over OpenAI, the report noted.

Last week, it was reported that OpenAI told investors that its early efforts to increase computing resources gave it a vital advantage over rival Anthropic.