Wall Street’s AI IPO wave begins Friday as Elon Musk’s SpaceX hits the public market, a debut that could dwarf annual US IPO proceeds in most years. OpenAI follows Anthropic with its own filing, while Alphabet announces an $85bn secondary offering—the first share sale since its 2004 listing. The flood of equity raises questions about pricing discipline amid soaring demand for AI compute.

Investors face a staggering capital need: Goldman Sachs estimates $765bn will be spent on AI data centres this year, merely a tenth of the projected outlay by 2031. Even cash‑rich firms like Alphabet, with roughly $50bn net cash, are scrambling for funds, while SpaceX has already struck deals to sell excess capacity to Anthropic and Google, potentially doubling its revenue stream.

Early winners are emerging: Anthropic reports its first operating profit, OpenAI’s gross margin hovers around 33%, and Alphabet’s AI‑driven earnings have risen steadily. Yet model builders confront fierce competition from cheaper open‑source alternatives, especially from China, and uncertain enterprise pricing. Analysts will watch cash flow metrics closely as valuations tighten.