Anthropic opens its Australian retail IPO, giving individual investors access to Class A shares ahead of the company's planned Nasdaq listing (Jenny Lee/CNBC)

Anthropic is offering up to 20% of its Class A shares to retail investors in an upcoming IPO, a significantly higher percentage than the typical 5% to 10% allocation for retail investors in major U.S. IPOs. The company expects the final allocation to depend on demand, and the total offering is valued at around $12.2 billion at the pricing midpoint of $74 per share.

The remaining shares will be held by existing investors, employees, and founders. Retail investors are accustomed to watching IPOs from the sidelines, but Anthropic is making an exception by opening the door wider for their participation. This larger allocation is well above the traditional norm and more typical of the biggest and most closely watched listings.

Other notable examples of high retail allocations include Robinhood, which set aside approximately 25% of its IPO shares for customers, and SpaceX, which allocated around 30% of its IPO to retail investors before adjusting downward. Despite the larger retail tranche, the IPO is still expected to experience significant volatility on the first day, and investors should evaluate the stock based on its own merits rather than the allocation of shares to retail investors.