Key insights
- Anthropic is reportedly considering an IPO as early as Q4 2026, potentially seeking a valuation exceeding $60 billion. This news, coupled with reports of OpenAI also pursuing an IPO, highlights the intense capital demands of AI development. The article suggests that these IPO plans are driven, in part, by concerns over tightening market liquidity and reduced expectations for Fed rate cuts, which could negatively impact risk appetite for growth stocks.
Investing.com-- Anthropic executives have discussed an initial public offering of the AI startup’s shares by as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026, The Information reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Bankers vying to take the startup public expect Anthropic to raise more than $60 billion its IPO, The Information reported, although the figure will not be decided until just before the offerings.
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The offering could be one of the largest ever IPOs in history after SpaceX, which is expected to raise as much as $75 billion by as early June.
Anthropic rival OpenAI is also reported to seek an IPO this year, with recent reports suggesting that the ChatGPT maker is attempting to enter public markets ahead of Anthropic.
The rush for IPOs comes amid simmering fears of tightening market liquidity, especially in the face of sticky inflation and waning expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.
Anthropic and OpenAI require vast amounts of cash to meet the high costs of developing and running their proprietary AI models. Anthropic closed a $30 billion funding round at a $380 billion valuation in February, while OpenAI closed a $120 billion funding round at a $850 billion valuation earlier in March.
Anthropic is backed by some of Wall Street’s biggest technology firms, including Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). The startup was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, including CEO Dario Amodei.