Anthropic plans IPO investor meetings ahead of mega-listing

Anthropic is preparing to meet with investors as part of the groundwork for what could be one of the largest initial public offerings in history, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The Claude AI maker is considering a public listing as soon as October, a timeline that would see it debut on U.S. exchanges ahead of Chinese rival DeepSeek, which is separately preparing its own IPO filing.bloomberg+3

A Path Forged in Private Markets

Anthropic confidentially filed its draft S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, positioning itself ahead of OpenAI in a closely watched race among AI companies to reach public markets. The offering is expected to be led by Goldman Sachs ↘ 0.63%, JPMorgan ↗ 0.27% and Morgan Stanley ↗ 0.17% and could raise more than $60 billion, according to ValueAddVC.npr+2

The company's valuation has climbed at a staggering pace. A $30 billion Series G round closed in February at a $380 billion post-money valuation, led by GIC and Coatue Management. By late May, a $65 billion Series H round pushed the figure to roughly $965 billion. Secondary market pricing has since implied a valuation above $1 trillion. Anthropic reported a $47 billion annualized revenue run rate around the time of its latest raise.valueaddvc+5

Major backers now span Silicon Valley and Wall Street. Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↗ 15.32% committed $5 billion in April with up to $20 billion more tied to milestones. Nvidia ↗ 2.93% pledged $10 billion and Microsoft ↗ 3.02% promised $5 billion. Other investors include Sequoia Capital, Blackstone ↘ 0.25%, Brookfield ↗ 1.19%, and D1 Capital Partners.reuters+3

DeepSeek Lurks Behind

The investor meetings come as Anthropic faces a potential rival debut. Bloomberg reported Monday that DeepSeek, the Hangzhou-based AI startup that rattled markets earlier this year, is preparing to file for an IPO on mainland China as soon as 2026. DeepSeek closed a $7 billion funding round in early June backed by Tencent and CATL Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, and is already in talks for a fresh raise at a $71 billion pre-money valuation.reuters+2

An Anthropic listing this fall would test whether public markets can absorb a near-trillion-dollar AI debut. The company has said the timing depends on market conditions and the SEC review process. As CNBC noted in June, the offering would represent the first major test of whether the private-market AI boom can hold up under the scrutiny of public investors.zacks+2