“With Sam Altman, he is smart and intelligent, but because of his ego he can overplay his cards because he thinks his cards are better than others,” Damodaran said. “This is a space where managers need to learn from what’s happening. I’m not sure OpenAI has the ability to learn and change in the way Anthropic wants to.”
He went on to say that based on intrinsic value, he wouldn’t buy either company given their rich valuations. However, if you are forced to keep an ‘LLM in your portfolio’, Anthropic could be the better choice.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are at the top of the AI world with stunning private valuations that dwarf most public tech companies. OpenAI raised the largest private technology funding round in history, totaling approximately $40 billion and a valuation of nearly $730 billion according to recent reports, potentially making it one of the most valuable private companies ever.
Nvidia is reportedly planning a $30 billion investment in OpenAI in its next funding round, with participation from Amazon, Microsoft and SoftBank, underscoring its continued confidence in the company’s future despite questions about profitability and market positioning.
Anthropic, on the other hand, closed a massive funding round earlier in February 2026, raising $30 billion at a valuation of $380 billion, the second-largest AI fundraising in history after OpenAI’s round. This positions the former OpenAI research team’s venture firmly alongside the biggest names in the technology sector. The valuation gap between the two rivals is significant, but both occupy the rarefied territory usually reserved for the largest public tech franchises.
Amid these dizzying private market valuations, the race for superior AI has sparked debate about its broader impact on humanity, including productivity and jobs. Anthropic recently released a series of plugins that caused a dramatic sell-off in broader software markets in both India and the US.
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