Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, became the first trillionaire in history this week. His company went public in the biggest IPO ever. As AI companies race to go public, who else is along for the ride?

SpaceX has been touting the promise of its expensive AI business, despite its name. Rivals OpenAI and Anthropic may soon make their own public market debuts. Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and I discussed this hot IPO summer on the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast.

“SpaceX is not only taking a significant portion of the money available on public markets,” Sean said. “It is also pushing the boundaries of what a public corporation can be. It tests how much control one individual can have. I am keeping a close eye on how much these other tech businesses will try to imitate when they go public.

Kirsten pointed out that other firms are trying to “ride that SpaceX IPO wave.” For instance, some are raising funds for orbiting data centers after SpaceX popularized the idea.

So, there is a marketwide ripple effect,” she said. “I believe it is far more interesting than just the headline ‘SpaceX makes Elon a trillionaire.’

Read on for a summary of our discussion, edited for clarity and length.

How Excited Are We About The AI IPO Wave?

Anthony Ha: Beyond the Elon Musk aspect, the SpaceX IPO starts what could be a series of IPOs for AI companies. I want to take a closer look. We have discussed Anthropic’s confidential filing to go public, and now OpenAI has followed suit. How enthusiastic are you both about this?

From FAANG To MANGOS

Kirsten Korosec: Let me begin by praising Julie Bort’s story. I think it captures the shift quite well. “It is not FAANG anymore, it is MANGOS” is a catchy headline, so I will read it here. FAANG stands for Facebook, which is now Meta; Amazon; Apple; Netflix; and Google, which is now Alphabet.

Now we have Meta, Anthropic, Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, and SpaceX. Big tech corporations are still there, but this is a change, isn’t it? To start, several AI labs are on the list, which is somewhat different. The list also drops Netflix, a massive streaming service.

I find it interesting that public market money is on the move. It is leaving consumer and social networks. It is flowing into AI labs and more cutting-edge deep tech, like SpaceX.

This summer will likely be the busiest for reporters in a long time. Still, I think this shift is the most intriguing aspect.

Sean O’Kane: You know, I used to want to be a lawyer, but I did not because I detested the paperwork that would be required. This summer, I am excited to read hundreds more pages of SEC filings talk about a beach read.

We had been looking forward to this moment for a long time.Over the past few years, there has been a lot of worry about private markets and ridicule about people reaching their Series [whatever] fundraising round. We have been wondering if the IPO market will quote-unquote “open back up.” This is an excellent stress test of public markets in general I mean, “good,” depending on how you define the word.

In addition to taking a sizable portion of the money available on public markets, SpaceX is pushing the boundaries of what constitutes a public company and the extent to which a single individual may control it.I am keeping a close eye on these other tech firms that plan to go public and how much they will attempt to imitate.

SpaceX is attempting to combine some of the most radical elements of Google and Meta’s initial initial public offerings (IPOs) in the early 2000s with Amazon’s “We will lose money forever.” This is something I constantly saying and thinking about.I wonder how much Anthropic and OpenAI will attempt to follow suit. Will they strive to present themselves in a new light, or will they recreate themselves in SpaceX’s image?

AH: The degree to which some of this is also somewhat of a race in terms of timing is another point that was brought home to me as I read about the OpenAI IPO.As of right now, I believe we can state with confidence that SpaceX is first out of the gate, which most likely has some benefits and drawbacks. It is also a bit of an unusual firm since, although it bills itself as an AI company, it clearly has a lot of other activities going on.

However, some observers believe that because there is only a limited quantity of cash and interest, both OpenAI and Anthropic may wish to move ahead of the other. They may both be vying for top place since some of these valuations must eventually start returning to Earth.

KK: Anthropic and OpenAI are really in a race. OpenAI is even discussing price reductions, and they will undoubtedly compete on the IPO schedule. However, that is incredibly short-sighted. If they are intelligent, they ought to be far more focused on this long-term strategy.

What is really intriguing, in my opinion, is that while Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX are all getting ready for these occasions, a number of other businesses are raising capital or entering SPACs based on the success of businesses like SpaceX.For example, while we record this, a firm called Quantum Space is doing a SPAC and is undoubtedly attempting to capitalize on the SpaceX IPO wave.

Our reporter Tim Fernholz has covered a number of other firms that are obviously I take it that they will not go public?|However, if SpaceX is successful with space data centers, they will be able to capitalize on that potential and develop businesses based on it. The market is experiencing a ripple effect that, in my opinion, is far more intriguing than the headline “SpaceX makes Elon a trillionaire.

SO: The widely held belief in Silicon Valley is that AI is changing the economy due to its application.The way individuals are attempting to develop AI is actually already changing the economy. We have these other businesses racing to public markets, and we have everything you just stated. And it is a really good question to consider, in my opinion: Will people ever regret hurrying to public markets?

However, other businesses, like Ford and General Motors, are turning their underutilized battery production capacity into energy suppliers for data centers.Additionally, Ford’s shares surged at the announcement of what, when compared to companies like Tesla, appears to be a fairly minor energy-storage venture. Additionally, Tim De Chant had a fantastic run of articles this week regarding GM’s change.

The economy is already undergoing reconstruction. Again, the question is whether that is long-lasting, but it is happening at the moment.

KK: That is a really good point because, in my opinion, five, six, seven, and eight years ago, there were all these headlines about “the next Tesla killer,” and these automakers and other businesses are still trying to replicate all these different businesses, especially the strategies of Elon Musk-based businesses. They still have not learned their lesson.

I hope I could convey this to every CEO of an automaker:I get that you want to change your business direction because you have a lot of unused batteries, but it does not always work to model your company after companies like SpaceX or Tesla. Maybe look elsewhere else.

SO: Therefore, Ford should not enter space data centers. Is that what you are saying?

KK: They shouldn’t. Just observe, though. This will take place.