The founder of Next Round Capital stated that in recent weeks, approximately six institutional investors have contacted his company seeking to sell around $600 million worth of OpenAI shares. Last year, such shares would typically be snapped up within a few days, but now there is no interest. The current market bid valuation for OpenAI stands at about $765 billion, representing a discount of approximately 10% compared to the previous valuation of $850 billion. Meanwhile, the bid valuation for Anthropic is around $600 billion, which is more than 50% higher than its last funding round. OpenAI has stated that it does not recognize or participate in these transactions.
OpenAI's shares have fallen out of favor in the secondary market and are, in some cases, almost impossible to sell as investors rapidly pivot toward its largest competitor, Anthropic.
Despite OpenAI’s recent efforts to raise tens of billions of dollars over the past few months, insiders reveal that demand for OpenAI on secondary market platforms is declining.
Ken Smythe, founder of Next Round Capital, stated that in recent weeks, approximately six institutional investors, including hedge funds and venture capital firms holding significant stakes, contacted his company seeking to sell around $600 million worth of OpenAI shares.
Last year, these shares would typically be snapped up within days. Now, however, there is no interest.
Smythe remarked, “We can hardly find anyone willing to take these shares among our pool of hundreds of institutional investors. My firm has facilitated $25 billion in transactions. Meanwhile, buyers have indicated they have $20 billion in cash ready to invest in Anthropic.”
Meanwhile, other trading platforms have also observed record-breaking demand for Anthropic, including Augment and Hiive.
Adam Crawley, co-founder of Augment, noted that the substantial gap between OpenAI’s valuation of $852 billion and Anthropic’s $380 billion valuation has prompted investors to rush to acquire stakes in the latter before its valuation rises further. “The current risk-reward profile is more favorable. People are betting that Anthropic’s valuation will catch up with OpenAI’s. However, if you buy OpenAI shares, the short-term returns are less certain.”
On Tuesday this week, OpenAI announced the completion of its largest-ever funding round, raising $122 billion from tech giants, venture capital funds, and retail investors. Data from Next Round shows that the current market bid valuation for OpenAI stands at approximately $765 billion, representing a discount of about 10% compared to its previous valuation of $850 billion.
Market demand for Anthropic is notably higher. Both Crawley and Next Round have observed that the bid valuation for Anthropic is around $600 billion, surpassing its valuation in the last funding round by more than 50%. Regarding this, Crawley commented, “This level of demand is among the highest we’ve ever seen—there’s almost unlimited interest.” Additionally, demand for Anthropic shares registered on the Hiive platform has exceeded $1.6 billion, also with a premium.
Separately, sources familiar with the matter revealed to the media that Wall Street banks, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, have begun offering OpenAI shares to their wealth management clients without charging carried interest. In contrast, Goldman Sachs continues to charge standard carried interest fees, typically around 15% to 20% of profits, for clients interested in investing in Anthropic.
Without the company's permission, neither Anthropic nor OpenAI permits investors to trade their shares on the secondary market. However, investors can still gain exposure to these shares through special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and other means across multiple platforms.
OpenAI states on its official website: 'OpenAI does not endorse or participate in these transactions. Such actions violate our transfer restrictions and may result in the invalidation of the related equity.'
Primary market financing and secondary market trading do not always follow the same logic. During funding rounds, existing investors are typically offered the opportunity to increase their shareholdings to maintain their ownership percentages; however, to avoid outright rejection (which might upset the founders), they may choose to subscribe and then sell part of their exposure on the secondary market.
In recent years, both AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, have experienced rapid growth, particularly after OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022 and Anthropic subsequently introduced Claude. Both companies are also considering going public, with OpenAI potentially listing as early as this year.
Some investors have become more cautious about OpenAI's rising operational costs. The company has committed to spending significantly more than Anthropic on infrastructure over the next few years to support its AI strategy. Although OpenAI has a strong consumer base, it has been slower in securing higher-margin enterprise clients. In contrast, Anthropic has already established dominance in this high-margin market, making its growth trajectory appear stronger.
Nevertheless, Anthropic also faces its own challenges. The company is suing the U.S. Department of Defense after being labeled a supply chain risk by the Pentagon, which has ordered government agencies to cease using its technology. Additionally, just this week, Anthropic experienced its second security incident within days, accidentally leaking internal source code for Claude.
Editor/Liam