To get into Anthropic right now, you need at least $25 million. For OpenAI, it’s closer to $1 million.

The private-share market is turning into its own scoreboard for the OpenAI-Anthropic rivalry. And right now, buyers appear to be voting with their wallets: Anthropic is the harder ticket to get, by a lot.

Sources in the secondary market say demand for Anthropic shares has been running far ahead of OpenAI for months. Javier Avalos, CEO of Caplight, said Anthropic has been the most sought-after name there for about a year, and that he’s seen roughly $1.5 billion of interest since the start of Q2 2026. He also pointed to the company’s $65 billion fundraise as part of the frenzy.

That frenzy has changed how Anthropic lets people in. Clara Vydyanath of Underline Capital said the company has tightened its process around who gets access to its cap table. She described investors warehousing positions and then selling them off in blocks worth $20 million, $50 million, even $100 million at a time.

The bar is high enough that smaller checks barely move the needle. Vydyanath said getting in below $25 million is difficult, and that it generally takes $50 million-plus at valuations around $1.3 trillion to $1.4 trillion. Christine Healey of Healey IPO said even investors trying to place $10 million or $100 million can struggle because demand is so much bigger than supply, by perhaps 3x to 5x.

OpenAI, by contrast, looks more reachable. Several sources said investors can probably buy in with between $500,000 and $1 million. Caplight’s Avalos said demand for OpenAI shares has recovered somewhat from earlier lows this year. Vydyanath’s take is blunt: OpenAI feels underpriced, Anthropic feels overpriced.