Anthropic submitted its IPO prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 26. The company plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT, potentially as early as November; the number of shares to be offered and the price have not yet been disclosed.
Market expectations suggest Anthropic could raise as much as $100 billion and receive a valuation in the $1.5–2 trillion range. If it lists, Anthropic — developer of the Claude large language model — would become the first independent, major U.S. AI developer to go public; its principal rival, OpenAI, has stated it does not plan an IPO in 2026, according to Sam Altman.
Key financial figures
According to the prospectus, Anthropic generated $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026, up from $1.2 billion in the same period a year earlier. With third-quarter investor updates included, revenue for the first nine months exceeded $33 billion. Growth has been driven primarily by enterprise demand.
However, profitability challenges remain: the company reported a net loss of $80.7 billion in the first half, largely due to revaluation of convertible debt, while operating loss declined to $693 million. Revenues are concentrated — five customers accounted for a quarter of total revenue in the first nine months. Anthropic warns that its initial growth momentum could slow and that the cost of compute capacity remains a significant risk.
Unusual shareholder rights — founders and a trust retain control
One of the most controversial aspects of Anthropic’s IPO plan is its proposed shareholder voting structure. The filing states that seven founders, including CEO Dario Amodei, would control 50.1% of the voting power through a special share class, and this control would not be automatically diluted by the public offering. A separate special share would grant the Anthropic Long-Term Benefit Trust — an independent body — the right to appoint and remove a majority of the board.
As a result, public shareholders could participate in the company’s financial upside while having limited influence over corporate governance. Shareholder voting rights would technically remain, but the structured majority would leave decisive power with the founders and the designated trust.
Anthropic frames this structure as necessary for AI safety: the prospectus explains that the founders may sometimes prioritize societal benefit and management of technological risks over short-term shareholder profit expectations.
Large long-term commitments to infrastructure
Anthropic has entered into commitments for computing capacity and data-centre infrastructure totaling more than $800 billion, with some contracts extending to 2045. These are not immediate cash liabilities but long-term contractual obligations subject to various conditions.
Partners named in the filing include Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Broadcom, AMD and SpaceX. Contracts with Broadcom alone represent $161 billion in five-year agreements.
The return on these investments will largely depend on Anthropic’s ability to sustain revenue growth and manage compute costs.
Market context
Anthropic’s IPO plans come amid other large capital moves in the AI sector. On October 26, Meta disclosed plans for nearly $100 billion in equity financing, portions of which may not begin until 2027. Google and Meta develop their AI models inside already public parent companies.
In short, Anthropic presents strong revenue growth but also significant losses and customer concentration. Its proposed IPO structure would restrict governance influence for public investors, while the company faces hundreds of billions of dollars in long-term infrastructure commitments.
