Anthropic seeks up to $100B in record IPO, WSJ reports

Wall Street is preparing for Anthropic's expected initial public offering, which could come as soon as November. CNN called the deal a major test of how much investors want to own one of the AI industry's leading firms. The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 0.28% reported that the company could raise as much as $100 billion at a valuation of around $2 trillion. That would make it one of the 10 most valuable companies in the world.keyt

The timing is awkward. Bond yields are rising, the IPO market is cooling and companies including Oura and Holtec have pulled their planned debuts. Questions about AI safety, including from Anthropic's own CEO, are also hanging over the deal.morningstar+1

A record in reach

Anthropic said in June that it had confidentially filed to go public. Morningstar reported that the company was targeting October before pushing the listing to November. A $100 billion raise would beat SpaceX's IPO, the largest ever, which raised about $86 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation. "It's very possible that they'll be in second place (roughly) a month from now," Jay Ritter, professor emeritus at the University of Florida, told CNN.keyt+1

Reuters obtained a copy of the unreleased prospectus last week. It reported that the document warns the company's AI model could pose a "catastrophic or existential risk to humanity". Anthropic lost $42 billion in 2025 and plans to spend more than $500 billion on computing and infrastructure in the coming years, according to Reuters. The Financial Times reported that the company told investors it will be profitable for a second straight quarter this year.keyt

Calls for caution have grown louder in recent weeks. Former employees and CEO Dario Amodei have raised safety concerns, and tech leaders, including Amodei, signed an accord at the White House last week to "self-police" AI development. OpenAI has said it will wait until next year to list. CNN reported that safety concerns were the reason for the delay.morningstar+1

A shaky IPO market

According to Renaissance Capital, just 32 companies listed in the third quarter, the fewest since early 2024. Leaving out chipmaker SK Hynix's US listing, those deals raised only $8.9 billion. Oura postponed its $2 billion offering, citing "uncertainty in the IPO market." SB Energy, NScale and Holtec have also reportedly pushed back their listings. Treasury yields have climbed above 5%, their highest in decades.morningstar

"You've got rising rates. You've got the war in Iran. You've got the sort of shakier economy ex-AI," said Heath Terry, head of AI investment research at Citi Citigroup Inc. ↗ 1.22%. On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite is trading near a record high, which favors a tech listing.keyt

Angelo Zino of CFRA Research expects "a very strong appetite and demand for Anthropic". Ritter offered a more guarded view: "If the company executes its business model, it's going to do fine. But you know, a lot of times things don't work out".keyt