Anthropic's accelerated path to a mid-November 2026 Nasdaq IPO, targeting an $1.8–2 trillion valuation after its $965 billion May private round, underpins the market's lean toward it over OpenAI for higher closing market capitalization. The Claude developer has posted rapid revenue growth, with annualized run rates exceeding $65 billion by late July and projections approaching $110 billion by year-end, alongside improving gross margins and early profitability signals. In contrast, OpenAI has deferred its own listing to 2027 amid AI safety priorities, opting instead for at least $30 billion in additional private capital at roughly $1.4 trillion. This sequencing positions Anthropic to establish the first public benchmark for frontier large language model companies, while OpenAI's timeline and capital strategy reduce near-term visibility into its eventual IPO pricing.