Anthropic aims to match or top SpaceX’s record IPO

Anthropic PBC is preparing to publicly file for an initial public offering as soon as the end of August, targeting a fundraising size that would match or exceed SpaceX's record-setting debut, according to Bloomberg. The AI company, which develops the Claude family of models, has already confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission.qz+1

A Potential Record-Breaker

SpaceX raised $75 billion at the launch of its IPO, a figure that climbed to $86.2 billion after the overallotment option was exercised, making it the largest first-time share sale in history. Anthropic is now running the numbers to determine whether its own offering can reach or surpass that threshold, though the fundraising size and other details remain subject to change.bloomberg+1

Morgan Stanley ↗ 0.00%, Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ↘ 0.15%, and JPMorgan ↗ 0.39% Chase are advising on the offering, with additional banks potentially joining. The company is also considering super-voting shares that would give CEO Dario Amodei and fellow co-founders greater control.qz

If the IPO surpasses SpaceX's record, it would push 2026 to the highest annual U.S. IPO volume on record. Companies that debuted on public markets have already raised $160.6 billion as of August 19, putting 2026 within striking distance of the 2021 peak of $195.2 billion.qz

Revenue Surge and Lingering Losses

Anthropic's financial trajectory underscores both its rapid growth and the enormous costs of building advanced AI systems. Preliminary second-quarter revenue exceeded $11.5 billion, up from $787 million in the same period a year earlier, and the company's annualized revenue run rate reached $65 billion by late July. Quarterly adjusted operating profit turned positive in the second quarter.tradingkey+1

Yet the company recorded a net loss of nearly $42 billion in 2025, up roughly fivefold from the prior year, driven by massive spending on computing infrastructure. A single contract with SpaceX for computing capacity could reach tens of billions of dollars over three years. Anthropic raised $65 billion in May at a $965 billion valuation.qz+1

Enterprise Focus and the Road Ahead

Anthropic has carved out a distinct position by focusing primarily on enterprise clients. Its Claude Code product alone has reached an annualized revenue run rate surpassing $2.5 billion, and the company held a 32% share of the enterprise large language model API market as of the second quarter, surpassing OpenAI's 25%. Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↘ 1.11%, Alphabet's ↗ 0.32% Google, JPMorgan, and Salesforce ↗ 2.09% are among its major customers.tradingkey

Anthropic is expected to go public ahead of OpenAI, which has pushed its own listing timeline to 2027.qz