Investors in OpenAI are increasingly scrutinizing its roughly $852 billion valuation, particularly as the company pivots its strategy. OpenAI is shifting its focus towards selling AI tools to businesses, a move some investors believe could leave it vulnerable to rivals like Anthropic and Google. While OpenAI has historically excelled as a consumer-focused company with its popular chatbot ChatGPT, it is now emphasizing its enterprise business to tap into significant revenue streams, partly in response to Anthropic's success in this sector.
This strategic redirection is causing concern among some early backers, who argue that OpenAI, with a $1 billion user business growing 50-100% annually, is becoming "deeply unfocused" by pursuing the enterprise market and code. They fear that this could divert attention from its dominant consumer position, potentially allowing Google, with its vast resources, to catch up. OpenAI's CFO, Sarah Friar, maintains that investors are supportive, citing a recent $122 billion funding round from over 25 investors as evidence of strong conviction in their direction and long-term value.
The success of Anthropic has played a significant role in OpenAI's strategic rethink. Anthropic's annualized revenue surged from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to $30 billion by the end of March, driven by demand for its coding tools. This outpaces OpenAI, which hit $25 billion in annualized revenue in February, although direct comparisons are difficult due to differing accounting methods. Some investors believe that to justify an investment in OpenAI's latest round, an IPO valuation of $1.2 trillion or more would be necessary, making Anthropic's recent $380 billion valuation appear more attractive. Data from secondary marketplaces even indicates higher demand and a premium for Anthropic's stock over OpenAI's.
OpenAI is reportedly preparing for a public listing, with expectations that it, along with Anthropic and SpaceX, could be among the biggest IPOs of all time. This will put unprecedented pressure on public markets. The company has also made changes to its ambitious projects, including shuttering the Sora video generation service and an "adult" chatbot, ditching plans for data centers in the UK and Texas, and substantially paring back a $100 billion deal with Nvidia. Its focus has instead shifted to selling its coding tool, Codex, to businesses, with a plan to nearly double its headcount to 8,000 by year-end. Despite the investor concerns, the company leadership is bullish, having successfully repositioned the company multiple times in the past.
