Anthropic reportedly plans to move forward with IPO, listing as soon as next Thursday

What happened

According to The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic is moving ahead with its IPO plans: the company intends to set a valuation range this week and could begin trading as soon as Thursday or Friday of next week. The timing is notable given the environment — shortly after one of Nasdaq's biggest sell-offs and amid revelations that a CEO central to the AI boom had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy — but per the report, none of this has deterred the company.

Key details

• Timeline: a valuation range is to be set this week, with trading starting Thursday or Friday of next week.
• Valuation trajectory: a $2 trillion figure was floated a few months ago; the target discussed as recently as last week was $1.5 trillion. The report says some institutional investors are now pushing for a valuation below that $1.5 trillion target.
• Rival benchmark: OpenAI was reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion last week after raising $11 billion in fresh capital, short of the $20 billion it had initially sought.

Why it matters

The report notes that investors will look to Anthropic's valuation to gauge the strength of the AI boom. In other words, how this IPO is priced and how it trades will serve as a bellwether for the industry.

The steady downward revisions — from $2 trillion to $1.5 trillion, and now institutional investors pushing for less — along with OpenAI raising less money at a lower valuation than it sought, point to cooling enthusiasm for AI companies in private markets. Launching a major tech IPO after one of Nasdaq's biggest sell-offs is itself seen as risky; whether Anthropic sticks to its schedule, and where pricing lands, will set a reference point for other AI companies' listing plans.

Who it affects

• AI and tech companies planning to go public: Anthropic's pricing may shape valuation benchmarks and listing windows across the sector.
• Institutional and retail investors: the listing offers a direct way to assess the value of a leading AI company and may move sentiment around AI stocks broadly.
• AI industry practitioners: the capitalization of a leading model developer affects research spending capacity, and funding and valuation levels will influence the competitive landscape.

Launching a major tech IPO would seem risky right now, shortly after one of Nasdaq’s biggest sell-offs and amid revelations that a CEO central to the AI boom had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy. But that isn’t deterring Anthropic, which is moving ahead with its listing plans, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Anthropic plans to set a valuation range this week and begin trading on Thursday or Friday of next week, the Journal reported.

Investors will look to Anthropic’s valuation to gauge the strength of the AI boom. Some institutional investors are now pushing for a valuation below the $1.5 trillion target discussed as recently as last week, a figure that was itself considerably below the $2 trillion floated a few months ago, the report said.

OpenAI, Anthropic’s main rival, was reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion last week after the ChatGPT maker raised $11 billion in fresh capital, short of the $20 billion it had initially sought.

Topics

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