Photo: Kimberly White / TechCrunch, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude family of AI models, has publicly filed for an initial public offering in what could become the largest stock market debut in history. The company filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, October 26, and said it has applied to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ANT.
The filing did not set the number of shares to be sold or a price range, and the registration statement has not yet become effective, meaning no shares can be sold until the SEC declares it effective. Both the company and existing shareholders will sell shares, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley named first among 24 underwriters. Media reports point to trading beginning in mid-November.
Revenue surges more than thirteenfold
The prospectus offers the first complete public look at the finances of one of the world's most closely watched private companies. Revenue reached $16.29 billion in the first six months of 2026, up from $1.16 billion in the same period a year earlier — a jump of more than 1,300 percent. Revenue in the second quarter alone was $11.56 billion, and the company reported its first quarterly operating profit of $974 million.
The growth continues a steep trajectory: Anthropic's revenue was $41 million in 2023, the year it launched commercially, then $386 million in 2024 and $4.59 billion in 2025. By September 30, 2026, more than 11,900 customers each spent $100,000 or more over the trailing twelve months, and more than 1,900 spent $1 million or more, according to the filing.
The $80.7 billion loss, explained
The filing also reports a first-half net loss of $80.7 billion — a figure that looks alarming until its composition is understood. About $72.4 billion of it is a non-cash charge from changes in the fair value of convertible notes, derivative liabilities and SAFEs, driven mainly by the rise in Anthropic's own enterprise valuation. The operating loss for the period was far smaller, at $693 million, while operating cash flow was positive at $3.9 billion. Cash and short-term investments totalled $131.7 billion at June 30.
Still, the company warns in the filing that it expects losses to continue, that costs will rise over time, and that revenue growth may slow. Its spending commitments are enormous: the filing lists at least $110 billion in spending with Amazon from May 2026 through April 2036, at least $114.5 billion with Alphabet through July 2033, and approximately $161.2 billion in equipment lease payments to Broadcom, excluding interest.
A governance structure unlike other tech giants
Anthropic is organized as a public benefit corporation, a Delaware legal form that requires it to balance profit with a stated public-benefit purpose — in this case, the responsible development of advanced AI. Its Long-Term Benefit Trust elects a majority of the board through a special Class T stock, while a single Class F share held by a founders' vehicle carries 50.1 percent of general voting power. Public shareholders, in other words, will buy economics, not control.
The structure reflects the company's founding mission. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, including siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, with an emphasis on AI safety. In a statement quoted with the filing, the company said: "We believe that AI is one of the most consequential technologies in human history."
Markets rally on the filing
Investors greeted the filing with enthusiasm. On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.8 percent to 26,169.38, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to 7,676.77, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.28 percent to 52,361.58. Chip stocks led the way: Nvidia rose about 2.4 percent, Broadcom gained 2.3 percent, Micron rose 3 percent and Advanced Micro Devices jumped 2.8 percent, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF popped nearly 3 percent. Asian chip and AI stocks rallied on Tuesday, with South Korea's KOSPI up more than 4 percent in early trade, according to Reuters and Investing.com.
"The market needed this, just like it needed SpaceX," Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, said of the filing, calling it "a big confidence booster" for a tech sector that had been flagging amid worries that debt-financed AI data-center spending is unsustainable.
What valuation will investors pay?
The central unanswered question is price. Backers hope for a valuation of up to $2 trillion, according to Reuters, while some investors have weighed a figure closer to $1.5 trillion. The Wall Street Journal reported that Anthropic is targeting a valuation of as much as $2 trillion and aims to raise $100 billion. If it reaches those levels, it would surpass the $1.77 trillion valuation and $75 billion raised by SpaceX when it listed on Nasdaq in June, making it the largest IPO on record.
That debate — whether Anthropic's growth justifies a record price tag, or whether the AI trade has run ahead of itself — will dominate the weeks until trading begins. For now, the filing has done what months of leaks could not: put real numbers, real risks and a real ticker in front of the public.
Sources: Anthropic S-1 filing announcement; Reuters; CGTN/Xinhua; CNBC market coverage; Quiver Quantitative.