NYC Comptroller Levine urges Anthropic to pause US IPO, CNBC reports

Oct 15 : Anthropic should delay its US IPO until it addresses concerns about safety, governance and the pace of development, urged New York City Comptroller Mark Levine in a letter to the AI lab's CEO Dario Amodei, CNBC reported on Thursday.

AI systems have advanced rapidly over the past 12 months, outpacing regulation and drawing scrutiny over potential risks including safety, cybersecurity threats and misuse.

"Instead of proceeding headlong with its IPO, the company should focus its energies on addressing these unprecedented risks," Levine wrote, according to CNBC.

The office of the NYC Comptroller and Anthropic did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Anthropic’s own research has highlighted the risks posed by increasingly autonomous AI models, which have demonstrated potentially harmful capabilities in controlled tests, including sabotaging code, facilitating fraud and manipulating information.

The IPO is currently expected in November, with a target valuation of over $2 trillion, according to media reports. Its closest rival, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, is expected to list in 2027.

Earlier this week, in a pre-IPO meeting, Anthropic ​told prospective investors that revenue in the third quarter surged 45 per cent from the prior quarter, Reuters reported, citing sources.

New York City’s comptroller oversees the city’s finances, manages its pension funds and acts as a watchdog over public spending and financial practices.