AI Briefing

The two hottest AI companies on Earth are both sprinting toward public markets and profitability at the same time. OpenAI quietly filed its IPO paperwork today while Anthropic told investors it's about to post its first-ever operating profit on $10.9B in quarterly revenue. Nvidia, the company selling shovels to both of them, just reported its own staggering numbers. Meanwhile, a jury needed less than two hours to toss Elon Musk's entire lawsuit against OpenAI, and the Pope is preparing to weigh in on what all of this means for humanity.

01IndustryCNBC ↗

OpenAI Confidentially Files IPO Prospectus, Targeting a Q4 2026 Public Debut

OpenAI filed a confidential draft IPO prospectus with the SEC on Friday, working with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase to prepare what could be one of the largest public market debuts in history. The company, valued at over $850 billion by private investors, is targeting a listing window between Labor Day and Thanksgiving 2026. A confidential filing lets OpenAI negotiate with regulators behind closed doors before making financials public, giving it flexibility to time the reveal to market conditions.

02IndustryDataconomy ↗

Anthropic Projects First-Ever Operating Profit as Q2 Revenue Surges to $10.9 Billion

Anthropic told investors it expects Q2 2026 revenue of $10.9 billion and an operating profit of approximately $559 million, marking the company's first profitable quarter ever. Revenue is up 130% from $4.8 billion in Q1, driven by surging demand for Claude in coding, cybersecurity, and a new small-business tier. The catch: Anthropic is paying SpaceX $1.25 billion per month for GPU compute through 2029, which means sustaining profitability beyond Q2 will be a challenge as training costs for next-generation models ramp up.

03IndustryKiplinger ↗

Nvidia Posts Record $81.6B Quarter, Guides to $91B Next Quarter, and Announces $80B Buyback

Nvidia reported Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% year-over-year, with data center revenue alone hitting $75.2 billion. The company guided Q2 revenue to $91 billion (plus or minus 2%), authorized an $80 billion stock buyback, and hiked its quarterly dividend 25-fold from $0.01 to $0.25 per share. The numbers confirm that AI infrastructure spending shows no sign of slowing, with Nvidia continuing to capture the vast majority of the dollars flowing into GPU compute.

04PolicyNPR ↗

Jury Unanimously Rejects Elon Musk's Entire Lawsuit Against OpenAI in Under Two Hours

A California jury needed less than two hours to unanimously dismiss all of Elon Musk's claims against OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and president Greg Brockman. The jury found Musk had waited too long to file suit, rendering his breach-of-charitable-trust and unjust-enrichment claims time-barred. Evidence showed Musk knew about OpenAI's shift toward a for-profit structure years before he sued in February 2024. Musk's attorney has announced plans to appeal, but the swift verdict undercuts what was supposed to be a four-week trial that could have unwound OpenAI's corporate restructuring.

05PolicyNational Catholic Reporter ↗

Pope Leo XIV Will Present First Encyclical on AI Alongside Anthropic Co-Founder Christopher Olah

Pope Leo XIV will publish 'Magnifica Humanitas' ('Magnificent Humanity') on May 25, his first encyclical, focused on protecting human dignity in the age of AI. Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah will be among the lay speakers at the Vatican presentation, alongside theologians. The document is expected to condemn AI use in warfare and warn about threats to workers' rights, echoing Leo XIII's landmark 1891 encyclical 'Rerum Novarum' on industrialization. It was signed on May 15, exactly 135 years to the day after its predecessor.