Anthropic’s Laundry Has Been Aired

OpenAI closed a massive $122 billion funding round, exceeding its initial $110 billion target, at an $852 billion post-money valuation. Led by SoftBank, A16Z, and others—including up to $50 billion from Amazon and $30 billion each from NVIDIA and SoftBank—the round drew additional capital from banks and retail investors via platforms like ARK Invest. The company highlighted $2 billion monthly revenue ($13.1 billion last year), with enterprise sales over 40% of total and on pace to match consumer sales by end-2026, though it remains unprofitable and cash-burning. However, secondary market trading reveals cooling demand for OpenAI shares amid a pivot to rival Anthropic.

OpenAI's Funding Amid Secondary Market Pressures

OpenAI emphasized enterprise growth to counter whispers of investor fatigue. Secondary platforms like Next Round Capital report sharp drops in OpenAI share demand: institutional sellers offered $600 million in recent weeks, but buyers vanished—unlike last year when shares sold quickly. Bids now value OpenAI at around $765 billion, a 10% discount. Investors cite OpenAI's high infrastructure costs, slower enterprise capture, and unclear near-term returns versus Anthropic's stronger trajectory in high-margin enterprise deals. Meanwhile, secondary demand for Anthropic shares surges—$2 billion ready at Next Round, $1.6 billion at Hive, often at premiums—betting its