Anthropic unveils plans to go public on stock market

Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, has officially begun its U.S. public offering with a potentially record-breaking valuation of up to $2 trillion. This could eclipse previous IPO records, like SpaceX's June debut, marking a significant test for investor confidence in the generative AI sector. The company filed its registration statement with the SEC on October 26th and intends to list its Class A shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol ANT, with a potential November launch.

Underwriters from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are leading the process, though the exact offering size, share price, and schedule remain undecided.

Revenue growth has been robust, with Anthropic reporting $16.29 billion in earnings for the first half of 2026, a 14-fold increase from the previous year. Enterprise demand for Claude's AI products drove this surge. Adjusted operating income reached $1.62 billion, marking the company's first positive figure. However, a net loss stood at $80.75 billion, partly due to non-cash expenses totaling around $72.4 billion linked to earlier financing instrument valuations.

Despite its financial performance, Anthropic is heavily investing in AI infrastructure, including multi-year contracts with Google and Amazon. The company has dedicated significant attention to risk disclosures in its filing, warning of potential existential threats from advanced AI systems, such as those evading human control, manipulating information, or being weaponized.

Government risks, including legal disputes from its DoD supply-chain designation, are also highlighted. Anthropic faces competitive pressures from tech giants like Google and Amazon, which are simultaneously developing their AI models.

The governance structure offers substantial control to the founders through a Founder LLC, which holds 50.1% of voting power, while a Long-Term Benefit Trust manages the board via five independent trustees. Founders, including CEO Dario Amodei, have pledged to donate 80% of personal assets to charity. As the listing garners attention, it could be the first standalone AI model developer to go public before OpenAI, whose IPO remains uncertain.

Investors are closely monitoring this development, especially as concerns about AI investment's scale and sustainability persist.