The wave of blockbuster public listings tied to artificial intelligence may be only the start of a much larger cycle, according to Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan, who believes capital markets are entering a new era shaped by successive generations of AI companies.
Speaking at Singapore’s SuperAI convention, Tan said the upcoming debuts of SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic represent the opening phase of a broader transformation in technology investing.
“I think with this host of new companies going out into public capital markets, it’s super exciting, but I think this would be just the beginning,” Tan told CNBC.
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“We’re going to see a second generation, a third generation, different waves coming through.”
His comments follow investors’ brace for one of the most consequential periods for tech IPOs since the dot-com era. SpaceX is set to begin trading Friday with a targeted valuation of about $1.77 trillion, a figure that would make it one of the world’s most valuable public companies immediately after listing. The company’s IPO is widely viewed as a test of investor appetite for ultra-large, founder-led technology offerings tied to AI infrastructure and space technology.
Meanwhile, OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO earlier this week, following a similar filing by Anthropic. The two companies sit at the center of the generative AI race and already command extraordinary private-market valuations: Anthropic was valued at roughly $965 billion in its latest funding round, while OpenAI’s valuation stood around $852 billion earlier this year.
Tan suggested these offerings could establish a durable pattern in public markets rather than a one-off speculative burst.
Why Razer Matters in the AI Conversation
The comments bear weight because Tan has taken Razer in the opposite direction from most AI companies. The Singapore-based gaming hardware maker delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2022 after only five years as a public company. At the time, many investors viewed the move as a retreat from public markets. Tan now frames it as part of a longer-term strategy to reposition Razer around artificial intelligence.
Razer’s privatization deal valued the company at about 10.79 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.38 billion), with a consortium led by Tan and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners buying out remaining shareholders at HK$2.82 per share. The company had originally gone public in 2017 at HK$3.88 per share.
Since going private, Razer says it has invested more than $600 million into AI development. Thus, he is betting that AI will become consumer hardware. Unlike many AI startups focused on cloud software or enterprise tools, Razer is pushing AI into physical devices aimed at gamers and mainstream consumers.
Its recent products include:
- Project Motoko: An AI-enabled headset unveiled at CES that offers real-time translation, cooking guidance, and repair instructions.
- A high-performance AI workstation: Designed for intensive local AI workloads and model processing.
- Ava: An AI desktop companion intended to provide personalized assistance and interaction.
Tan said the company is exploring AI systems that behave less like traditional software tools and more like companions with distinct personalities.
“We are all-in on AI,” he said.
A Broader Shift In Capital Markets
Tan’s prediction reflects a growing view among investors that AI could reshape public markets for years, not months. During the last major technology cycle, the biggest IPOs were dominated by internet platforms, social media companies, and mobile ecosystems. In the current cycle, the focal point is shifting toward AI model developers, semiconductor firms, robotics companies, cloud infrastructure providers, and energy-intensive computing businesses.
Against this backdrop, analysts expect multiple “waves” of AI listings:
- First wave: frontier AI labs and infrastructure giants such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX.
- Second wave: application-layer companies building specialized AI tools for industries including healthcare, finance, design, and cybersecurity.
- Third wave: hardware, robotics, and consumer AI companies integrating AI into physical products and everyday services.
That progression could keep AI-related offerings at the center of equity markets well into the next decade.
Not Everyone Is Convinced
However, the enthusiasm is tempered by concerns about valuation excesses.
SpaceX’s proposed valuation implies a price-to-earnings multiple far above most established technology leaders. Investors are also debating governance issues, particularly Elon Musk’s expected retention of overwhelming voting control after the IPO.
Similarly, OpenAI and Anthropic are being valued on expectations of future AI dominance rather than mature, stable profitability.
Still, Tan argued that the current moment resembles the beginning of a long innovation cycle rather than a speculative peak. For companies like Razer, the strategy is to position themselves early enough that they become part of later IPO waves rather than spectators to the first one.
The immediate catalyst is Friday’s SpaceX debut, where a strong performance is expected to bolster investor confidence ahead of the anticipated listings from OpenAI and Anthropic. A weak reception, by contrast, could force markets to reassess whether public investors are willing to sustain trillion-dollar AI valuations.
Tan’s view is that, regardless of near-term volatility, the structural trend is unlikely to reverse.