With major artificial intelligence (AI) companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX continuing to move toward initial public offerings (IPOs), Min-Liang Tan (민량 탄), co-founder and CEO of Singapore gaming hardware company Razer, forecast that the AI listing boom is only in its early stages.

On June 11, CNBC reported that Tan, speaking at the SuperAI event in Singapore, said it was "very interesting" to see more new companies entering the public capital markets in connection with the recent IPO frenzy in the AI industry. "But this is just the beginning," he said.

He predicted that large listings in the AI industry would continue. Tan said "second" and "third" waves would follow, suggesting there could be additional AI company IPOs beyond OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX, which are drawing market attention.

Market attention is already focused on the IPO timetables of major AI companies. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is set for an IPO on June 12 and is targeting a valuation of about $1.77 trillion during the IPO process. SpaceX has businesses not only in space, but also units including X and xAI, which develops the generative AI model Grok.

OpenAI has also recently submitted a listing application to U.S. securities authorities, and rival Anthropic has started its IPO process ahead of that. The competition to develop AI models is spreading into competition in the capital markets.

Competition over valuations is also intense in the private market. Anthropic was valued at about $965 billion in a Series H funding round last month. That is higher than OpenAI, which was valued at about $852 billion in March. The industry sees AI companies pursuing both private fundraising and entry into public markets to secure growth capital.

A notable point is that Razer has taken the opposite path from this trend. Razer listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2017 but became a private company in 2022. At the time, a consortium of investors led by Tan and Hong Kong-based private equity firm CVC Capital Partners delisted the company through a tender offer.

Tan said the decision at the time was a strategic choice to expand its AI business. He said it needed to focus on long-term technology investment rather than short-term performance pressure as a listed company.

Razer has sharply increased investment in AI since going private. The company said it had invested more than $600 million in AI development as of February this year. It is also expanding its AI-based product lineup targeting gamers.

A key example is Project Motoko, an AI headset unveiled at CES this year. The product offers various AI services including real-time interpretation, cooking guides and device repair instructions. Razer is also expanding its AI ecosystem by introducing products such as high-performance AI workstations and its AI desktop assistant, Ava.

At the event, Tan said, "We are all-in on AI," and added, "We are also studying even the way AI expresses personality and emotions similar to humans."

The industry says the IPO rush by AI companies and Razer's strategy of focusing as a private company show different paths, but ultimately point in the same direction in that AI is a future growth engine. Market attention is turning to how far the line of AI IPOs will extend, and whether a strategy of focusing on technology development while remaining private will become a new alternative.