Anthropic set for second straight profitable quarter

Anthropic has informed a select group of investors that it anticipates generating a positive adjusted operating income for the second straight quarter, according to the Financial Times. The company, which specializes in artificial intelligence, aims to address investor concerns regarding the substantial cash expenditures of frontier AI firms prior to a potential initial public offering.

Adjusted operating income excludes expenses such as stock-based compensation, as reported by the FT. Anthropic's gross margins exceed 80% before accounting for revenues shared with distribution partners like Amazon and the expenses associated with training its AI models, as two individuals familiar with the figures revealed to the FT.

Achieving sustained profitability would represent a significant milestone for the five-year-old company as it gears up for a potential listing on Nasdaq, which could potentially value the company at $2 trillion or more, according to a person cited by the FT. In the second quarter, Anthropic reported an adjusted operating profit after revenue surged 14-fold from the previous year, reaching $11.5 billion.

By the end of July, the company's annualized revenue had climbed to $65 billion, up from $9 billion at the close of 2025. The potential listing coincides with growing scrutiny over the rapid and costly development of increasingly potent AI models by Anthropic and other AI companies. Chief Executive Dario Amodei recently urged the industry to temper the pace of AI development, a sentiment echoed by OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, as reported by the FT.

Sources familiar with the matter disclosed to the FT that employees at rival AI laboratories have also explored measures to manage AI development more responsibly, driven by recent security breaches and concerns over the capabilities of newer models.