Anthropic files for IPO, reveals soaring revenue, massive net losses

NEW YORK: United States (US) artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic publicly filed its prospectus for an initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, in what could become the largest stock market debut in history, reported Xinhua.

The filing, a registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, did not specify the number of shares to be sold or a price range.

Anthropic intends to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ANT, according to a statement on the company's website.

Both the company and existing shareholders will sell shares, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley named as lead underwriters alongside 22 other firms.

The company is expected to begin trading in mid-November.

Some investors have speculated that its valuation could reach US$2 trillion, although others have considered a figure closer to US$1.5 trillion, according to Reuters.

The prospectus provides the first detailed look at the finances of the developer of the Claude AI models.

Revenue reached US$16.29 billion in the first half of 2026, up from US$1.16 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Annual revenue grew from US$41 million in 2023 to US$386 million in 2024 and US$4.59 billion in 2025.

Revenue in the second quarter alone reached US$11.56 billion, and the company reported its first quarterly operating profit of US$974 million.

The company's net loss was much larger, although most of it stemmed from accounting charges rather than cash expenditure.

Anthropic recorded a net loss of US$80.7 billion in the first half of 2026, of which US$72.4 billion resulted from changes in the fair value of convertible notes and other financial instruments as the company's valuation rose.

Its operating loss for the period was US$693 million, while operating cash flow turned positive at US$3.93 billion. Cash and short-term investments totalled US$131.7 billion as of June 30.

The filing cautions that the rapid pace of growth may not last.

"We cannot assure you [revenue] will continue to grow at all," the company said in the prospectus, which also notes that it is on track to record a second consecutive quarter of adjusted operating profit.

Computing power remains the company's highest cost.

Anthropic spent nearly US$9 billion on computing resources and infrastructure in the first half of 2026 and has committed to US$518 billion in future infrastructure spending.

It has agreed to spend at least US$110 billion with Amazon through April 2036 and at least US$114.5 billion with Google through July 2033.

Amazon holds US$6.2 billion in notes convertible into non-voting stock, subject to a cap of 12 per cent of the company.

As of Sept 30, more than 1,900 customers generated at least US$1 million each in trailing annual revenue, while more than 11,900 generated at least US$100,000, up from 950 a year earlier.

Existing customers spend roughly nine times as much as they did a year ago, but two unnamed customers accounted for about 23 per cent of revenue in the first half of 2026.

Public investors will be able to buy shares but will have limited influence over the company's governance.

A single Class F share held by the seven co-founders carries 50.1 per cent of all stockholder voting rights, while a trust will elect a majority of the board.

A Public Benefit Fund will hold five per cent of the company in non-voting shares, and each co-founder has pledged to donate 80 per cent of their personal Anthropic equity to philanthropic causes.

The prospectus also outlines several risk factors, including warnings that advanced AI could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity" and that liability arising from extreme harm could exceed the coverage available from any insurer.

Anthropic raised US$65 billion in May at a valuation of US$965 billion.

A debut valuation exceeding US$2 trillion would surpass SpaceX's US$1.77 trillion listing in June, which set the current record.

Reuters has also reported that Anthropic's third-quarter revenue reached US$16.8 billion, with projections pointing to annual revenue of about US$190 billion to US$200 billion in 2028.