Hot IPO Summer: What Happens When AI Goes Public?

InnovationAIHot IPO Summer: What Happens When AI Goes Public?ByMartine Paris,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Martine Paris is a San Francisco-based writer covering AI trendsFollow AuthorJun 12, 2026, 01:22am EDTGwynne Shotwell, President & COO, SpaceX expected to received one of the largest windfalls from the SpaceX IPO (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Getty ImagesIn what could become the largest wealth creation event in Wall Street history, OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX have filed to go public with valuations collectively in the trillions. With thousands of employees poised to become mega-millionaires, some billionaires, and Elon Musk in the running to become the world’s first trillionaire, there is intense speculation about what comes next.In San Francisco this is particularly true as the city is home to OpenAI, Anthropic, and many other AI unicorns on the IPO watch lists which include Notion, Harvey and Plaid. Additionally, there is a lot of excitement over Databricks and Stripe, even though both companies have recently said they are in no rush to go public.For venture investors, the immediate impact is clear: more liquidity, more risk-taking and a new generation of founders armed with capital and ambition to fuel the next era of innovation.“These IPOs mean that a lot of money is going to flow back into the San Francisco Bay Area and the overall tech ecosystem, said Siddharth Ramakrishnan, Principal at Scale Venture Partners. ”We’re going to see more angel checks, more people chasing crazy ideas, and more founders pushing the envelope than we have in a while. After all, PayPal’s exit is what gave Elon the capital to chase SpaceX in the first place."Ramakrishnan points to PayPal’s $1.5 billion acquisition by eBay in 2002 as one of those seminal transactions whose ripple effects shaped Silicon Valley and is still having impact decades later. The deal created a generation of wealthy founders and funders dubb...