SA Asks: Which AI-related companies will hold IPOs this year?

[IPO Initial Public Offering]

Which AI-related companies are likely to hold initial public offerings this year?

We asked Seeking Alpha analysts Eugenio Catone [https://seekingalpha.com/author/eugenio-catone] and Donovan Jones [https://seekingalpha.com/author/donovan-jones] which ones they thought might go public.

Eugenio Catone [https://seekingalpha.com/author/eugenio-catone]: The most-awaited IPO is definitely that of OpenAI (OPENAI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/OPENAI]). According to Reuters, this IPO has the potential to be one of the biggest ever, as its valuation could reach $1T. However, exactly when OpenAI will go public is still unknown. Some sources talk about late 2026; others say early 2027. What we do know is that CEO Sam Altman doesn’t seem very excited about a potential listing, remarking, "In some ways I think it’d be really annoying."

Another relevant mention is Anthropic (ANTHRO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ANTHRO]), developer of the Claude AI models, and its valuation has been skyrocketing. According to The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic plans to raise $10B at a valuation of $350B, but three months ago it was valued at $183B and nine months ago at “just” $61.5B. The Financial Times reported that an IPO in 2026 is very likely.

A third potential IPO candidate for 2026 is xAI (X.AI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/X.AI]), which also owns X and is controlled by Tesla (TSLA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TSLA]) CEO Elon Musk. According to a recent financing round, xAI's valuation should be about $230B; however, it is the most uncertain IPO among the three discussed so far. Musk's SpaceX (SPACE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPACE]) is more likely to be listed first.

Donovan Jones [https://seekingalpha.com/author/donovan-jones]: The 2026 U.S. IPO market appears likely to build on 2025’s sequential growth in both the number of IPOs and gross proceeds.

Foundational AI model developer Anthropic (ANTHRO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ANTHRO]) has apparently hired legal counsel for a potential 2026 offering. If market conditions are strong, Databricks may choose to float its shares, although its most recent private market valuation of $134M in 2025 is no small hurdle to overcome.

Chipmaker Cerebras Systems (CBRS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CBRS]), which originally filed to go public in 2024, may elect to move forward in 2026, especially in the wake of Nvidia’s (NVDA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NVDA]) $20B deal with Cerebras competitor Groq.

Dataiku, an enterprise software provider that has created a universal AI platform of sorts that enables developers to easily manage the "last mile" of AI elements, has reportedly engaged Citigroup (C [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/C]) and Morgan Stanley (MS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MS]) for an IPO in the first half of 2026.

OpenAI (OPENAI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/OPENAI]) still has access to plentiful private market capital at apparently reasonable valuations, so I don’t expect them to go through the time-consuming and distracting IPO process in 2026, unless valuations are too tempting to ignore.

SpaceX (SPACE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPACE]), which owns Starlink (STRLK [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/STRLK]) and is controlled by Elon Musk, is reportedly considering an IPO in mid-2026 at a valuation of $1.5T to raise $30B to build an orbiting AI data center. Musk has said those reports are "accurate," although plans for such a large undertaking are likely still in the early stages, including the investment bank “bake-off,” in which Morgan Stanley (MS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MS]) may be in the leading competitive position.

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