S&P 500 and the Future of AI IPOs

The S&P 500 has refused to fast-track SpaceX into its index, setting a precedent that will likely block OpenAI and Anthropic from inclusion at their IPOs—despite their trillion-dollar valuations. This decision, rooted in strict rules like a 12-month seasoning period and profitability screens, protects the $7.5 trillion fund from volatile, unprofitable tech giants. Yet it forces investors to go direct to gain exposure, potentially redirecting billions in passive capital. Meanwhile, SpaceX is monetizing its AI overbuild by leasing 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs to Google for $920 million a month through 2029—proving that even massive losses ($2.5B quarterly) can be offset by strategic compute sales. Enterprises are burning through AI budgets 3x faster than planned, with companies like Uber and Priceline facing runaway costs due to uncontrolled token usage. In response, the Linux Foundation launched the Tokenomics Foundation to standardize AI cost metrics across 180 vendors. Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky is launching a dedicated AI lab focused on design and user experience—directly competing with existing tools he once advised—highlighting a growing trend of companies building in-house AI to avoid the limitations of current models. Surprisingly, 90 investors hold stakes in both OpenAI and Anthropic, reflecting a new era of 'bet-the-farm' diversification in AI venture capital.