Anthropic and OpenAI are crowding software firms out of the IPO spotlight

Traditional software companies hoping to go public have picked an awkward moment. Two AI labs, Anthropic and OpenAI, are absorbing most of the oxygen in the room.

Brian Ruder, co-CEO and co-managing partner at private equity firm Permira, joined Dani Burger on Bloomberg’s “Bloomberg Deals” to discuss that shift. His point was that AI is changing how investors value software, and the old pricing playbook is under strain.

A $2 trillion shadow over the listing pipeline

The biggest name in the queue is Anthropic. The company confidentially filed its S-1 in June 2026, the registration paperwork companies submit before a US listing.

It is reportedly targeting a November 2026 debut at a valuation of up to $2 trillion. That figure could make it the largest IPO in history.

For context, SpaceX went public in June 2026 at a valuation of nearly $1.78 trillion. That deal now serves as the benchmark Anthropic would need to clear.

OpenAI, meanwhile, is taking the slower lane. CEO Sam Altman has ruled out a 2026 IPO, citing safety concerns as the reason for pushing any listing to at least 2027.

Huge growth, huger bills

The numbers attached to Anthropic explain why fund managers are paying attention. Recent reports indicate its revenue grew roughly 12x to around $4.6 billion in 2025.

The company may also exceed an annualized run rate of $65 billion by mid-2026. Run rate means taking current revenue and projecting it across a full year, so it is a snapshot rather than a booked total.

Then there is the other column of the ledger. Anthropic has posted net losses of over $42 billion.

It has also committed to $518 billion in cloud and infrastructure spending.

Why the software sector feels squeezed

According to Ruder’s remarks, traditional software valuation multiples are facing pressure compared with AI-focused firms and their products.

The research behind this story points to venture capital increasingly favoring frontier AI applications. Legacy software providers, by comparison, are struggling to grab the spotlight.

Ruder and Burger also discussed software companies exploring agentic AI development. Agentic AI refers to systems that can carry out multi-step tasks on their own, rather than simply answering a prompt.

The conversation also covered a less flashy problem: financial firms face challenges appealing to up-and-coming talent. When the most exciting work in tech sits inside AI labs, private equity has to work harder to recruit.

What this means for investors and software companies

For private equity firms like Permira, the stakes are concrete. Buyout funds typically need exits, and an IPO is one of the main ways to return capital to investors.

The research suggests a tightly controlled IPO window that favors AI-native or AI-augmented offerings. Companies less involved in these technologies could struggle to hold investor interest as portfolios potentially tilt toward AI leaders.

A listing at up to $2 trillion would demand a significant chunk of institutional money, and every dollar committed to Anthropic is a dollar not available for a mid-sized software offering.

The key dates are clear enough. Watch for Anthropic’s public S-1 disclosures ahead of the targeted November listing, any shift in OpenAI’s 2027 timeline, and whether software firms leaning into agentic AI can convince markets they belong on the AI side of the valuation divide.