【AI】OpenAI "Scentless"? Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of OpenAI shares in the secondary market remain unsold; $2 billion in cash ready to invest in competitor Anthropic

OpenAI “unfavorable scent”? Reports say that as investors quickly shifted to its biggest competitor, Anthropic, OpenAI shares are no longer in demand in the private secondary market, and in some cases are even almost impossible to sell.

The report says that Next Round Capital founder Ken Smythe said that on his secondary-market trading platform, demand for OpenAI shares is declining. In recent weeks, about six institutional investors—including hedge funds and venture capital firms holding large stakes—have been contacting to sell roughly $600 million worth of OpenAI shares. If last year, these shares would have been snapped up within days, but now there are no buyers.

Ken Smythe said, “In our buyer pool made up of hundreds of institutional investors, we can’t find anyone willing to take these shares,” while buyers say they have $2 billion in cash ready to go into Anthropic.

Other trading platforms, including Augment and Hiive, have also seen record demand for Anthropic. Adam Crawley, co-founder of Augment, said that the huge gap between OpenAI’s $85.2 billion valuation and Anthropic’s $38 billion valuation has driven investors to rush to buy the latter’s equity, betting that its valuation will rise further.

He said:

“The risk-reward is better now. People are betting that Anthropic’s valuation will catch up to OpenAI. But if you buy OpenAI shares, the return in the short term isn’t as clear.”

According to people familiar with the matter, banks, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, have started offering OpenAI shares to wealth-management clients without charging performance-fee arrangements. At the same time, Goldman Sachs still charges its clients as usual for those seeking to invest in Anthropic, typically about 15% to 20% of profits.

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