Anthropic Files US IPO Paperwork as AI Firm Nears $965 Billion Valuation
Artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, creators of the Claude chatbot, confirmed on Monday it has filed paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, with the aim of listing shares this year. The company stated that the share price and volume remain undetermined.
This planned flotation comes after a recent private investment round valued Anthropic at over $965 billion, exceeding OpenAI's most recent valuation of $852 billion. Anthropic's chief executive, Dario Amodei, founded the company after departing OpenAI due to disagreements with its leader, Sam Altman. The two firms are now prominent rivals in the AI sector.
OpenAI is also reportedly considering a public listing this year, although Altman indicated no immediate rush. Google's parent company, Alphabet, has separately announced plans to allocate $80 billion to AI development.
Market analysts are scrutinising these moves closely. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, described the announcement as a "clear sign that the AI arms race is moving into a more capital-hungry phase." Tineke Frikkee, senior fund manager at W1M, expressed interest in Anthropic's forthcoming prospectus to assess its profitability.
Sana Kharegani, chief strategy officer at Era 4, noted that Anthropic proceeding with its IPO ahead of OpenAI carries inherent risk, potentially setting valuation precedents. However, Troy Hooper of Mergermarket suggested the first mover could define how public markets appraise generative AI, making going second the more precarious option. Harrison Rolfes, a research analyst at Pitchbook, predicted Anthropic's IPO would be "the most scrutinized public offering in tech history," with investors meticulously examining its business margins, sales, and profitability.
Anthropic's IPO, alongside SpaceX's impending debut, represents an unprecedented concentration of pre-IPO capital simultaneously entering the market. Rolfes warned this period could become "the most consequential IPO cycle since the dot-com era or the most expensive lesson in narrative-versus-fundamentals that public markets have ever taught."
The company has also been involved in a legal dispute with the US Department of Defence (DoD). Last year, concerns arose when the DoD sought contractual terms allowing government agencies "any lawful use" of AI tools like Claude. Amodei publicly voiced fears about potential use in mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. Following this, former President Donald Trump declared the US would "never do business with [Anthropic] again," and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly banned US agencies from using Claude. The lawsuit is ongoing, despite recent indications of cooled tensions from the White House. Anthropic has informed investors it expects to achieve profitability in the first half of this year, citing significant sales growth for Claude and related services. Neither SpaceX nor OpenAI are currently profitable.
