The New York Post reported on October 23 that an unnamed major Wall Street deal lawyer described advice to speed up possible IPOs by Anthropic and OpenAI. OpenAI said it had no IPO timeline and would not go public in 2026. Anthropic, meanwhile, had submitted a confidential draft registration statement, with public-filing and listing dates reported as plans.

What the reported Wall Street advice said

The lawyer’s reported rationale was concern that a possible change in congressional control after the November election could bring hearings and scrutiny of AI-related job losses, deepfakes, and data centers’ power and water use. Those were concerns behind the reported advice, not established future policy actions.

An IPO, or initial public offering, is a company’s sale of shares to public investors. The October 23 article attributed the call to accelerate possible offerings to one unnamed deal lawyer; it did not establish that Anthropic or OpenAI had decided to list.

OpenAI said it would not go public in 2026

An OpenAI spokesperson told the New York Post that the company had not set an IPO timeline and would not go public in 2026. That was OpenAI’s stated position, separate from the outside advice described in the report.

Anthropic’s confidential filing and reported next steps

Anthropic announced on June 1 that it had confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed IPO. A Form S-1 is a registration statement used in the U.S. public-offering process. Anthropic said the offering would depend on market conditions and other factors. The company’s announcement described a confidential draft, not a public filing.

On October 24, an SEC EDGAR company search for Anthropic’s S-1 returned no matching companies. In its October 17–23 issue, IFR reported that Anthropic planned a public filing for October 26, a roadshow during the week of November 9, and a mid-November IPO. Those dates were reported plans. The distinction between a confidential draft and a public filing is central to understanding where the proposed offering stood in the dated record.

NeoTeo previously covered the separate valuation discussion around Anthropic’s possible IPO.

Mark Levine separately asked Anthropic to pause

IFR also reported that New York City Comptroller Mark Levine sent Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei a letter asking the company to pause its IPO until it addressed concerns about AI safety, governance, and the pace of development. The request presented a different view from the reported advice to accelerate a possible listing.