Anthropic Pushes Ahead With Unprecedented IPO

On November 9, Anthropic is moving forward with plans for a major public offering, with investor meetings scheduled this week and trading expected Thursday or Friday of next week. The AI company is preparing to set a valuation range. Some institutional investors are pushing for a figure below the $1.5 trillion target discussed last week, which was already lower than a $2 trillion valuation floated months earlier.

The offering would put a company devoted to developing AI models on public markets without a close precedent. Anthropic reported $17 billion in sales in its most recent quarter, up 1,127% from a year earlier, and $33.2 billion in sales during the first nine months of this year. But it has recorded only one quarter of operating profit and committed nearly $900 billion to computing capacity and data center infrastructure over the next few years. The company cautioned investors that its rapid revenue growth may not continue.

Anthropic also said five customers made up one-fourth of its revenue this year, and some of those customers compete with it. Its proposed share-sale schedule would let some non-founder insiders sell 10% of their holdings on the first day, followed by additional opportunities over the next year. The seven founders would retain majority voting power. The IPO comes amid doubts about AI-related stocks and the scale of data center construction, making the offering a test of investor appetite for the sector.