Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX IPO's are filed. The AI IPO pipeline is now worth $3.6 trillion.

Anthropic filed confidentially on June 1, days after a $65 billion funding round valued the company near $965 billion. Not sure how everyone knows about it if it’s ‘confidential’ but that’s another post. 😜

OpenAI followed on June 8. SpaceX is mid roadshow at a valuation around $1.75 trillion, and Bloomberg puts the combined AI IPO pipeline at $3.6 trillion.

The number behind the valuations matters more to an operator: Anthropic’s revenue run rate hit $47 billion in May, up from $10 billion a year ago. Companies are paying for this technology at a pace I haven’t seen in 25 years of watching ERP, ecommerce, and CRM waves roll through our industry.

The valuations tell me the technology has paying customers and staying power. They tell you nothing about which tool fits your operation. But, where do you start?

Start here: put AI on the strategic plan this year, give it an owner and a budget line, and make every vendor prove fit against your actual workflows.

If you haven’t started using AI yet, you are behind. How do I know? I’m helping your competitors every week.