Anthropic seeks up to $64.4 billion in stock market debut

Anthropic is seeking to raise as much as $64.4 billion in a stock market debut that could value the maker of the Claude chatbot at up to $1.4 trillion, according to Al Jazeera. The planned offering comes amid sharp swings in AI stocks and questions about whether the industry’s heavy spending will pay off.

The company launched an investor roadshow on Tuesday and plans to go public next week, Al Jazeera reported. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Anthropic said it would offer 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each. Al Jazeera said the top price would give the company a valuation of up to $1.4 trillion when potential shares are included. The BBC put the valuation range at $1.1 trillion to $1.3 trillion and said Anthropic could raise up to $64 billion.

Both estimates fall short of earlier expectations. The BBC said some backers had predicted a $2 trillion valuation over the summer, citing the Financial Times. Al Jazeera reported that earlier estimates ranged from $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion. Anthropic has also secured $26 billion in a separate private placement backed by Google, Nvidia, Microsoft and AMD, according to Al Jazeera.

The proposed listing will test investors’ appetite for AI companies after a turbulent stretch for technology shares. Following last week’s U.S. midterm elections, the Nasdaq fell amid concern that a Democratic-led Congress could slow AI development and data-centre construction, the BBC reported. Al Jazeera said Democrats won control of both chambers and that the Nasdaq dropped 5.5% on Thursday, its biggest one-day fall in more than a year. The outlet said declines at Nvidia also drove the sell-off; its chief executive had been targeted by an alleged Chinese spy. The Nasdaq recovered some of its losses before dipping slightly below 1% on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported.

Anthropic’s sales have grown rapidly, but its losses remain substantial. For the six months through June, revenue rose to $16.2 billion from $1.1 billion a year earlier, while its pre-tax loss widened, according to the BBC. Al Jazeera reported that third-quarter revenue reached $17 billion, up from $1.4 billion a year earlier, as net losses narrowed. The outlet also said Anthropic raised its annual revenue pace estimate on Tuesday to about $81 billion, $10 billion above its estimate a month earlier.

Anthropic credits demand for Claude, including from healthcare, financial and legal services, for its growth, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet said the company has committed almost $900 billion to computing costs with partners including Amazon and Google.

Fiona Cincotta, a senior market analyst at City Index, described the proposed $64 billion fundraising as “fairly bullish” given recent volatility and concern about AI, the BBC reported. “It’s showing that they are still sort of upbeat about the outlook as far as AI is concerned and that obviously that they think that the demand is going to be there,” she told Reuters.

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei and five other former OpenAI employees, according to the BBC.