Anthropic files for IPO as AI sector enters Wall Street test

AI company Anthropic on Monday announced it had filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. According to TechCrunch's report, the filing marks the first concrete step in the long-speculated public-listing decision by the company behind the Claude model family.

Anthropic's most recent private funding round valued the company at 110 billion dollars. According to TechCrunch's reporting, the targeted valuation range in the IPO is 130 to 170 billion dollars. The company's annualised revenue over the past three months is estimated at about 8 billion dollars.

Anthropic has designated Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan as lead bookrunners for the offering. A company spokesperson, Sally Aldous, told TechCrunch that 'going public is an appropriate step in diversifying the funding that will support the organisation's growth strategy'.

Anthropic was founded in 2021 and its chief executive Dario Amodei and chief science officer Daniela Amodei were among former OpenAI researchers. The company has built its marketing message around a 'safe and beneficial' AI approach from inception.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told TechCrunch in his assessment that 'Anthropic's IPO filing is the start of a real public-markets attachment phase for the AI sector'. Ives added that, in a period when OpenAI has 'not yet taken concrete steps toward a listing', Anthropic gains a strategic edge over the rival.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management US chief investment strategist Dorothy Neufeld, on the global capital-markets reaction to the announced IPO plan, said it 'creates the first public valuation reference point for the AI sector; portfolio managers currently lack a comparison set'.

A JPMorgan IPO commentary said that the offering 'will reopen the question of the AI sector's overall valuation multiples'. The commentary noted that Anthropic's sector-multiple balance would be set against compute-capacity growth rates rather than revenue multiples.

Anthropic's filing documents say the offer price will be set two weeks before the listing. The SEC's standard review process takes 30 to 60 days. TechCrunch sourced reporting placed the indicative listing date in the September-October 2026 window.

Google, through early investments, is one of Anthropic's largest shareholders. Investor presentations are expected to outline in detail how Google's holding would be revalued at the listing. Amazon is also among the major shareholders.

FutureSearch chief executive Aaron Ho told TechCrunch that 'Anthropic's listing will redefine the divide investors draw between AI model companies and AI application companies'. Ho said the business models of publicly listed AI companies 'could clearly differentiate within 12 to 18 months'. This article is not investment advice.