NYU Professor Gary Marcus Says OpenAI Could Become the ‘WeWork of AI’ After IPO Delay
New York University (NYU) professor emeritus Gary Marcus warned that OpenAI might turn into the WeWork of AI. He tied the comparability to a delayed preliminary public providing for a corporation final valued at $852 billion.
The warning issues for Nvidia (NVDA) shareholders and AI infrastructure lenders. A markdown at OpenAI might unfold by way of chip demand and financing prices. Marcus mentioned sentiment, not fundamentals, would drive the injury.
Does a Delayed IPO Make OpenAI the ‘WeWork of AI’?
OpenAI filed confidentially for an inventory in June, then CEO Sam Altman dominated out 2026. Its final non-public valuation got here in a $122 billion spherical in March.
Reports of a brand new non-public spherical cite valuations from $1.2 trillion to $1.4 trillion. Onchain markets have pushed the Anthropic pre-IPO valuation above $1 trillion, once more and not using a public worth to check it.
WeWork is the precedent Marcus invoked. Its 2019 submitting confirmed nearly $700 million in first-half losses. A $47 billion non-public mark then fell towards $10 billion inside weeks.
Marcus famous that WeWork by no means accomplished its IPO. It did record by way of a particular objective acquisition firm (SPAC) merger in 2021, then filed for chapter in 2023.
Who Sets the Price if OpenAI Waits?
Anthropic is lining up a November itemizing forward of OpenAI. Marcus mentioned it nonetheless desires about $1.5 trillion, although he cited experiences nearer $1.1 trillion. That compares with the $2 trillion target circulating a month earlier.
Reuters reported OpenAI’s income reached $13 billion in 2025. Marcus has put its working losses close to $2 billion a month.
Neo clouds, newer corporations that lease out AI computing capability, face the sharpest publicity, Marcus mentioned. Their financing is getting costlier.
Anthropic’s debut might set the yardstick for roughly $600 billion of projected OpenAI {hardware} spending by way of 2030. The identical yardstick might apply to the chipmakers and lenders behind it. A powerful Anthropic debut would lower towards the thesis.
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