Anthropic Files for IPO at $965B Valuation, OpenAI Launches GPT-Rosalind, Revolut Targets 20M Users in India

Private market leaders are entering a new chapter. Anthropic prepares for public markets, OpenAI builds new capabilities in biodefense, and Revolut advances its ambitions in India. Let’s dive in…

THIS WEEK’S BREAKING NEWS

Anthropic files confidentially for historic AI public offering

Anthropic confidentially filed for an IPO, becoming the first major frontier AI lab to formally begin the public listing process. The filing follows a surge in valuation from $380B in February to $965B after a recent $65B funding round and sets the stage for a landmark AI IPO cycle as Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX prepare to enter public markets. (1)

MARKET UPDATE

IPO revival raises hopes for private equity exits

A reopening IPO market is reviving hopes for private equity firms seeking exits from nearly 33,000 unsold portfolio companies. U.S. IPOs raised $9.9B across 35 offerings in Q1 2026, the strongest start since 2021, while anticipated listings from SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are fueling optimism. However, mixed post-IPO performance and volatile markets suggest the recovery remains selective and uneven across sectors. (2)

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STABLETON NEWS

Read the Q1 2026 report on private tech

Q1 2026 was a historic quarter for private markets. SpaceX filed for what could be the largest IPO in history (3), AI investment as a share of GDP surpassed every prior technology cycle (4), and the global secondary market continued to grow with volumes on pace to exceed $250 billion (5).

The latest Stableton Private Blue-Chip Tech Navigator breaks down the developments that defined the first quarter of 2026. It covers market conditions, major funding rounds, valuation shifts, and liquidity trends, alongside data on the Stableton Morningstar PitchBook Unicorn 20 strategy.

As private tech matures into an institutional asset class, we prioritize keeping you updated on the data behind all the major shifts. We put this report together so you can see exactly where the market stands and where it’s heading.

View the full Q1 2026 report below.

PORTFOLIO NEWS

Anduril powers next-generation counter-drone defense networks at Flytrap 5.0

Anduril demonstrated its Lattice software as the command-and-control backbone of the U.S. Army’s Flytrap 5.0 exercise in Lithuania, integrating more than 30 sensors and defense systems into a unified air-defense network. The exercise showcased Lattice’s ability to connect disparate systems in real time, enabling faster counter-drone detection, tracking, and engagement as NATO and U.S. forces adapt to increasingly complex autonomous battlefield threats. (6)

Anthropic lands major enterprise partnership with Fujitsu to drive Japan’s AI scene

Fujitsu entered a strategic partnership with Anthropic to accelerate AI adoption across Japan’s mission-critical sectors, including government, finance, healthcare, defense, and critical infrastructure. Fujitsu will deploy Claude across approximately 100,000 employees, build a 1,000-person engineering team around Anthropic’s technology, and integrate Claude with its own Kozuchi and Takane AI platforms to deliver secure, enterprise-grade AI transformation and cybersecurity solutions. (7)

Anthropic becomes world’s most valuable AI firm, nears $1T valuation

Anthropic raised $65B in new funding, lifting its valuation to $965B and surpassing OpenAI’s last reported $730B valuation to become the world’s most valuable AI startup. The funding comes as Anthropic’s annualized revenue run rate reached $47B, fueled by strong enterprise demand for Claude Code, while positioning the company for a potential IPO amid intensifying competition with OpenAI and SpaceX. (8)

Anthropic appoints Korea director ahead of Seoul expansion

Anthropic appointed KiYoung Choi as Representative Director of Korea ahead of opening its Seoul office, reflecting the country’s growing importance in Anthropic’s global expansion strategy. According to Anthropic, Korean users adopt Claude at more than 3.5 times the rate expected based on population size, with strong demand from developers, enterprises, and AI-focused startups, making Korea one of the company’s most active international markets. (9)

EU secures access to Anthropic’s advanced Mythos model

Anthropic is preparing to provide the European Union access to its advanced Mythos AI model following months of discussions with regulators. The move reflects growing government interest in evaluating frontier AI systems capable of identifying software vulnerabilities at scale, as policymakers seek greater visibility into cybersecurity risks and oversight frameworks before increasingly powerful models become widely available. (10)

Anthropic launches Opus 4.8 with multi-agent workflow system

Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8, upgrading its flagship model with stronger coding, reasoning, and knowledge-work capabilities while introducing Dynamic Workflows, a new tool that coordinates hundreds of AI subagents to tackle large-scale tasks. The launch comes just 41 days after Opus 4.7 and reflects Anthropic’s push to strengthen its position in enterprise AI as competition with OpenAI and Google. (11)

Faire doubles engineering output with Cursor agents to scale software development

Cursor became Faire’s preferred platform for AI coding agents after helping double weekly pull request throughput and automate more than 2,000 engineering workflows per week. By replacing an internal agent system, Cursor enabled large-scale parallel software development, including compressing an 18-month application migration into a project managed by a single engineer overseeing fleets of autonomous coding agents. (12)

Databricks bets on Asia growth with new regional head

Databricks appointed Simon Davies as Senior Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific and Japan as it accelerates regional expansion. The move follows more than 85% year-over-year APJ growth in the company’s fourth quarter, alongside plans to quadruple its Singapore office footprint and support growing enterprise demand for AI, analytics, and data infrastructure across the region. (13)

Databricks Ventures adds v4c to portfolio amid rapid growth

Databricks Ventures invested in v4c.ai as the company joined its venture portfolio following rapid growth within the Databricks ecosystem. v4c supports more than 150 joint customers, has achieved over 600 Databricks certifications, and reported 900% year-over-year revenue growth, underscoring rising enterprise demand for Databricks-focused AI and data transformation services. (14)

Figure AI lands major retail logistics deal with Catalyst Brands

Figure AI signed a commercial agreement with Catalyst Brands to deploy humanoid robots across its distribution operations, beginning at a Nevada logistics center serving brands including JCPenney, Aéropostale, and Brooks Brothers. The partnership follows Figure’s $1B Series C funding round at a $39B valuation and marks a significant step toward scaling humanoid robotics across large retail supply chains. (15)

Kraken launches Bitcoin Vault to expand BTC yield offerings

Kraken launched Bitcoin Vault, a new yield product that allows users to earn bitcoin-denominated rewards while maintaining exposure to BTC. Powered by on-chain lending protocols including Aave, Morpho, and Tydro, the offering expands Kraken’s push into decentralized finance products. The launch follows strong adoption of Kraken’s broader DeFi Earn platform, which has surpassed $240M in assets under management since January. (16)

Breakout acquisition powers Kraken’s move into funded trading

Kraken launched Kraken Prop, a proprietary trading program that gives qualified traders access to up to $200,000 in firm capital after passing an evaluation. The launch builds on Kraken’s acquisition of Breakout and expands the exchange beyond trading infrastructure into funded trading, allowing participants to keep up to 90% of profits while trading more than 60 cryptocurrency pairs. (17)

Neuralink hires first lobbyists ahead of commercialization route

Neuralink has hired its first federal lobbying firms as it advances the development and commercialization of its brain-computer interface technology. The lobbying effort will focus on issues related to brain-computer interfaces and device coverage, marking a notable step as Neuralink moves closer to broader commercial deployment. (18)

OpenAI backs biodefense ecosystem with GPT-Rosalind access

OpenAI launched the Rosalind Biodefense Program to expand the use of its GPT-Rosalind model across biodefense and pandemic preparedness. The initiative provides trusted organizations with access to AI tools for epidemiological modeling, early threat detection, diagnostics, and medical countermeasure development, while partnering with organizations including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. (19)

Revolut appoints ex-Chase UK chief to drive European growth

Revolut has appointed former JPMorgan Chase executive Kuba Fast as Banking Executive for Europe, strengthening its leadership team as it pursues expansion toward 100 markets and 100 million customers. Fast previously led Chase UK and JPMorgan Europe, bringing experience in scaling digital banking operations across multiple markets as Revolut deepens its European banking footprint. (20)

Revolut launches India beta ahead of broader expansion

Revolut has begun onboarding thousands of users in India through a controlled beta rollout, marking a major step in its entry into one of the world’s largest digital payments markets. The company is drawing from a waitlist of roughly 450,000 users and is targeting 20 million customers in India by 2030, with services initially focused on domestic and cross-border payments through UPI and Visa integrations. (21)

Revolut expands French team in European push, adds 200 new hires

Revolut plans to hire 200 additional employees in France over the coming years as part of its European growth strategy. The expansion will focus primarily on fraud prevention and sales, increasing Revolut’s French workforce from roughly 480 employees today to more than 650 by 2030, reinforcing the market’s importance within the company’s broader European banking ambitions. (22)

SpaceX IPO sparks fresh Tesla merger speculation

Speculation around a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla has resurfaced as SpaceX moves toward a Nasdaq listing at a reported $1.25T valuation. The companies already share personnel, infrastructure, and AI investments, while both are ramping spending on compute and AI capabilities. No transaction has been announced, but the discussion highlights growing convergence across Musk’s technology ecosystem. (23)

xAI launches Grok Build coding model via API

xAI has launched Grok Build 0.1 in public beta through its API, introducing a coding model optimized for agentic software development tasks such as web development, debugging, and tool integration. The model powers Grok Build CLI, delivers inference speeds above 100 tokens per second, and is designed to compete in the growing market for AI coding agents and developer workflows. (24)

OTHER NEWS

Qualcomm lands ByteDance as major AI chip customer

Qualcomm has secured a major AI infrastructure win with a reported agreement to supply AI-focused ASIC chips to ByteDance. The deal positions ByteDance as one of Qualcomm’s first large-scale AI chip customers, supporting AI agent workloads and helping commercialize ByteDance’s in-house chip designs, while advancing Qualcomm’s push into the rapidly growing AI data center market. (25)

ByteDance weighs up to $70B AI infrastructure push

ByteDance is considering up to $70B in capital expenditures this year as it accelerates investment in AI infrastructure, data centers, and computing capacity. The spending would more than double last year’s level and position ByteDance among the world’s largest AI investors, reinforcing its ambitions to lead China’s AI market while expanding globally through products such as Doubao and agentic AI services. (26)

Groq seeks $650M after landmark Nvidia deal

Groq is raising up to $650M from existing investors as it doubles down on AI inference following a reported $17B licensing agreement with NVIDIA. The financing will support a new phase of growth focused on deploying AI models at scale, while existing shareholders are expected to receive additional distributions tied to the Nvidia transaction. (27)

Mistral targets engineering workflows with physics AI

Mistral AI has introduced a new physics AI capability following the integration of Emmi AI, targeting industrial engineering workflows across sectors such as aerospace, energy, semiconductors, and manufacturing. The technology aims to reduce physics simulation times from hours or weeks to seconds, enabling faster product design, real-time digital twins, and broader design-space exploration for companies including ASML, Airbus, Safran, and Siemens Energy. (28)

Airbus selects Mistral AI for sovereign aerospace applications

Airbus has partnered with Mistral AI to expand the use of sovereign AI across commercial aviation, defense, space, and industrial operations. Airbus will deploy Mistral’s full AI stack across engineering, manufacturing, flight safety, and defense applications, while gaining access to customized models and on-premise deployments designed to meet stringent security, sovereignty, and military requirements. (29)

Replit gains Visa backing to power AI-driven payments

Visa has made a strategic investment in Replit as the two companies explore embedding payments directly into AI-built applications and autonomous agents. The partnership centers on Visa Intelligent Commerce and Trusted Agent Protocol, aiming to let developers build software that can securely transact on behalf of users, positioning Replit at the center of the emerging agentic commerce ecosystem. (30)

CHART OF THE WEEK

Secondaries surpass IPOs in venture liquidity

For the first time, secondary transaction value has surpassed public listings, reflecting how private companies now stay private longer while reaching unprecedented scale before IPO. This growth is being driven by a concentrated group of companies, including SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Anduril, which now account for a disproportionate share of trading activity and SPV formation across the market.

As these companies move closer to public markets, secondary trading will continue to revolve around the next generation of leaders. The Stableton Morningstar PitchBook Unicorn 20 strategy is tapped into this shift, focusing on the private technology companies that consistently anchor secondary market activity and absorb the majority of institutional demand.

THE UNTOLD UNICORN STORY

Applied Intuition: Powering the infrastructure behind autonomous intelligence

Applied Intuition CEO, Qasar Younis. (31)

Applied Intuition is advancing the global shift toward autonomy through sophisticated simulation and development software. Founded in 2017 by Qasar Younis and Peter Ludwig, the company enables developers to design, test, and validate complex autonomous systems safely and efficiently across automotive, defense, and robotics sectors.

The company’s software platform enables large-scale virtual testing, accelerating deployment while reducing risk and cost. Backed by institutional investors including BlackRock and Kleiner Perkins, Applied Intuition is positioning itself as a foundational architecture in vehicle intelligence. (32)

Fun Fact: Applied Intuition actively recruits founders whose startups have been acquired, and currently has 31 founders working at the company. As Ludwig explained: "Seeing on the resume that somebody started something, we consider that a very positive signal." (33)

Did you know? Applied Intuition is one of the 20 companies in our Stableton Morningstar PitchBook Unicorn 20 strategy, a systematic, index approach that aims to outperform public benchmarks with low-cost fees, and without a performance fee. Click below for more information.

SOURCES

1 - The Guardian, 2 - The Wall Street Journal, 3 - Financial Times, 4 - NBC, 5 - William Blair, 6 - Anduril, 7 - Fujitsu Global, 8 - The New York Times, 9 - Anthropic, 10 - CNBC, 11 - TechCrunch, 12 - Cursor, 13 - ITNews Asia, 14 - Business Wire, 15 - Forbes, 16 - CoinDesk, 17 - Finance Magnates, 18 - Bloomberg Government, 19 - MSN, 20 - Fintech Magazine, 21 - TechCrunch, 22 - Bloomberg, 23 - CNBC, 24 - xAI, 25 - Bloomberg, 26 - Bloomberg, 27 - Reuters, 28 - Mistral AI, 29 - Airbus, 30 - TechCrunch, 31 - The Information, 32 - TechCrunch, 33 - Applied Intuition