Perplexity maintains its IPO strategy for 2028 as OpenAI and Anthropic submit their filings.
Perplexity AI aims for a 2028 IPO, as CEO Aravind Srinivas stated to CNBC that their timeline has not been altered despite OpenAI and Anthropic moving to file for IPOs in 2026. "Regardless of these two companies, we were targeting 2028, and that remains unchanged," Srinivas remarked. This positions Perplexity as a thoughtful outlier in a landscape where the three leading AI firms are competing to go public within a short timeframe.
The reasoning for waiting
OpenAI confidentially submitted its IPO paperwork on Monday, boasting an $852 billion private valuation, while Anthropic filed last week at $965 billion. SpaceX plans to list on Thursday with an estimated valuation of $1.8 trillion.
Srinivas believes the market can support multiple AI listings simultaneously, yet his choice to remain private indicates a different strategy. A 2028 IPO allows Perplexity to observe the market reception to the initial wave, build a more extensive financial history, and enter when the initial excitement has either been affirmed or adjusted.
Perplexity's standing
The company's last valuation was around $20 billion following a funding round in September 2025, having raised roughly $900 million in total—significantly less than OpenAI’s single round total of $122 billion and Anthropic's $30 billion. Perplexity offers an AI-driven answer engine that competes with Google Search, ChatGPT, and Claude, with its enterprise tier priced at $40 per user monthly. Although revenue figures for 2026 have not been disclosed, the enterprise AI market is expanding rapidly.
The risks of following
Common belief suggests that entering the market first during an IPO window attracts the most investment. If OpenAI and Anthropic satisfy the demand for AI stocks in 2026, Perplexity may encounter reduced interest in 2028. Conversely, the argument exists that launching later with a solid business model and clear economic viability may prove more sustainable than entering early at a speculative valuation. For instance, Bending Spoons, which just filed for its IPO this week, took years to establish a financial track record before considering the public market.
What hinges on 2028
Perplexity’s IPO strategy relies on two main assumptions: first, that the AI search sector will be sufficiently large by 2028 to sustain an independent public entity; second, that Perplexity will maintain enough differentiation to secure a substantial market share. Both assumptions remain uncertain. Google has been intensively integrating AI into its Search platform, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT is already the default AI tool for millions of users. Srinivas is wagering that patience will prove preferable to urgency, believing the market will reveal its true state by 2028.
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Perplexity AI aims for an IPO in 2028, opting for a patient approach rather than rushing, while both OpenAI and Anthropic have submitted confidential filings. The CEO stated that the schedule remains unchanged.