Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs Will Mint New Billionaires — and Nonprofits Are Bracing for a Wave of Donations

US nonprofits are preparing in advance for a wave of donations from Anthropic and OpenAI employees, who could become new millionaires and billionaires once their companies go public. Wired reported on the trend in 2026.

What is the "funding anthropalypse"?

"Funding anthropalypse" is what the philanthropic sector has taken to calling the expected influx of money from AI lab employees after their companies list on the stock market. The term plays on the name Anthropic and the word "apocalypse": it describes a sharp, almost step-change jump in private giving that foundations are trying to prepare for ahead of time.

According to Wired, the main sources of this money will be shareholders of the two largest private AI companies, Anthropic and OpenAI. Both remain privately held, and it is the IPO that should turn employees' paper wealth into real money they can spend.

• Source of funds: Anthropic and OpenAI employees who hold shares in their companies
• Trigger: the IPO, which gives the shares liquidity
• The phenomenon has already been nicknamed the "funding anthropalypse"
• Expected destination of the money: effective altruism and reducing long-term risks

Why are nonprofits preparing in advance?

Nonprofits are preparing early because, before an IPO, employees have almost no liquidity: shares of a private company cannot be freely sold, so the wealth stays "on paper." Going public removes that barrier and opens a window for large one-time donations, often in amounts far beyond what these donors could give before.

So foundations are not waiting for the event itself. They are building relationships with future donors now: preparing programs, the infrastructure to receive funds, and clear plans for where exactly the money should go. For many organizations, a single such donor could exceed their entire annual budget.

What is the sector saying?

The mood in the sector is a mix of anticipation and anxiety. Nonprofit leaders understand that the new donors from the tech world arrive with their own views on where the money should go. A significant share of Anthropic and OpenAI founders and employees are tied to the effective altruism movement, which bets on measurable impact and on reducing long-term risks, including the risks of artificial intelligence itself, rather than on traditional charity.

"It's going to be a wild ride," is how one nonprofit executive described the expected wave to

Wired.

That means pressure will arrive in the sector along with the money: donors will expect transparent metrics, not general reports about "good deeds."

What does this mean?

The Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs could redraw the map of private philanthropy in the US: dozens, if not hundreds, of new wealthy donors from the AI industry could enter the giving market almost simultaneously. For now this is an expectation, not an accomplished fact, but the nonprofit sector prefers to prepare for it in advance so as not to miss the largest influx of private money in years.