Anthropic says revenue jumped to nearly US$17bil last quarter

Anthropic, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence lab, disclosed on Wednesday that its revenue surged approximately 50% to US$16.8 billion in the September quarter, according to US media reports. The company is on the brink of a highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), where it is expected to target a valuation of US$2 trillion, surpassing SpaceX's record-setting US$1.8 trillion valuation during its debut in June. The company aims to hold its IPO in November, following the US midterm elections.

During a private investor meeting at its San Francisco headquarters, Anthropic's executives presented updates on the company's finances calculated on an adjusted basis, excluding certain costs. The adjusted figures revealed that Anthropic was free cash flow positive and boasted an 11% operating margin in the third quarter. However, the company also reported a net loss of US$42 billion in the previous year. Anthropic is targeting a market of US$30 trillion, as previously reported.

The company's annualized revenue reached US$65 billion earlier this year, with projections suggesting it could surpass US$100 billion by the end of 2026. This marks a significant leap over its main rival, OpenAI, whose annualized revenue stands at US$50 billion, as reported by Axios last week. Despite using different methods to calculate annualized revenue, the two companies are expected to continue their competitive race.

Anthropic specializes in AI models and products under its flagship product, Claude, while OpenAI is behind the popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT. OpenAI has postponed its IPO to 2027.