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Anthropic to press ahead with IPO targeting $1.5tn valuation
Confirmed
In Short: Anthropic, the artificial intelligence (AI) company behind the Claude chatbot, is set to list its shares on New York's Nasdaq stock exchange with a valuation of around $1.3 trillion, according to the Financial Times.
Revenue for Anthropic grew twelvefold, jumping to $16.2 billion in the six months to the end of June, up from $1.1 billion in the same period last year.
Backers of Anthropic are aiming for a record valuation, with some predicting a value above $2 trillion, though the current target is between $1.1 trillion and $1.3 trillion.
Anthropic has formally warned potential investors that its own technology could pose 'existential risks to humanity,' according to Fiona Cincotta, a senior market analyst at City Index.
Senior safety researcher at Anthropic posted on X, claiming there was more than a 10% chance that AI could kill all humans within the next decade.
Anthropic's debut is likely to occur in November, after the US midterm elections, and the company will list under the symbol ANT.
Anthropic has also signed a Joint Declaration with Kenya, establishing a cooperation framework covering AI skills, research, public-sector applications, and safety evaluation.
Despite the high valuation, Anthropic's IPO could face challenges, with some analysts noting the volatility and concerns towards AI that have been seen recently.
What this adds
The current valuation of $1.3 trillion is below SpaceX's $1.8 trillion valuation, making Anthropic's IPO a test case for the future of AI.
The company's co-founders pledge to dedicate 80 percent of their Anthropic equity to charitable causes.
Background
Anthropic, the AI startup behind the Claude chatbot, is seeking a $1.4 trillion valuation for its upcoming IPO despite concerns over AI valuations and investment costs.
What's confirmed
- Anthropic has formally warned potential investors that its own technology could pose "existential risks to humanity,".
- It would value Anthropic at between $1.1tn and $1.3tn which, although large, is below the $2tn some backers of the firm predicted in summer, according to the Financial Times.
- Fiona Cincotta, a senior market analyst at City Index, said the $64bn Anthropic wants to raise is "fairly bullish" within "the volatility [and] concerns towards AI that we've seen in sort of particularly last week".
- Anthropic, the artificial intelligence (AI) company behind the Claude chatbot, could be valued at around $1.3 trillion (£1 trillion) when it lists its shares for sale on New York's Nasdaq stock exchange.
- She told Reuters: "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." Anthropic, which will list under the symbol ANT on 19 November, will be the first fully AI-focused company to go public, making it a test case for the future of the technology.
- In its most recent results for the six months to the end of June, Anthropic's revenues jumped to $16.2bn from $1.1bn in the same period last year.
- At $1.3tn, Anthropic's possible valuation is below SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company, which listed its shares in June and was valued at nearly $1.8tn.
- Anthropic has admitted that advanced AI systems "could, if not developed, deployed, and operated with appropriate safeguards, oversight, and security measures, pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity, particularly if such systems were misused, replicated, weaponised, or allowed to operate with a high degree of autonomy".
What's still developing
- It doesn't represent cash Anthropic spent running its business.
- And annual revenue up a whopping 1,300% for the AI startup behind Claude Anthropic, the maker of artificial intelligence model Claude, closed a record-setting $30 billion funding round, the start-up announced Thursday.
- The prospectus – a document outlining a company’s finances, growth plans and risk profile ahead of a share listing – is said to warn that AI models could exhibit “self-preserving behaviours”, including attempts to “resist shutdown”, to “conceal or manipulate information” and behaviour “resembling blackmail”.
- Anthropic told investors that its revenue jumped around 50 percent to $16.8 billion in the September quarter and that it was profitable on an adjusted basis during the previous six months, according to U.S. media reports.
- Anthropic told investors it was free cash flow positive and had an 11 percent operating margin, both adjusted, in the third quarter.
- The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence ( AI ) lab is barreling towards a highly anticipated initial public offering where it is expected to seek a $2 trillion valuation, beating SpaceX's record-setting $1.8 trillion valuation when it debuted in June.
- According to the FT, Anthropic is on course for a second consecutive quarter of operating profit, albeit on an adjusted basis.
- The co-founders pledge in the prospectus to dedicate 80 percent of their Anthropic equity to charitable causes.
- Also Read: OpenAI vs Anthropic vs Google: How AI Companies Are Competing for Enterprise Adoption The growing cost of AI development is putting pressure on companies that depend heavily on external financing.