Anthropic reportedly to file for IPO as soon as Friday, aiming for a $2 trillion valuation and potentially the largest IPO in history

According to information obtained by Zhihu Finance APP, three sources revealed that artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic is expected to publicly file its S-1 investor prospectus as early as Friday. This will be a crucial step in the company's path to going public and could become the largest IPO ever. Wall Street expects the company may raise up to $100 billion at a $2 trillion valuation. Amid rising concerns about massive investor spending in the AI sector, this IPO is widely viewed as a key test of the market's appetite for the AI boom.

Anthropic confidentially submitted a draft registration statement for an IPO to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June this year. According to SEC rules, companies using the confidential submission process must publicly disclose registration materials at least 15 calendar days before the official roadshow begins. Anthropic declined to comment on the timing of its S-1 filing.

The public filing of the prospectus will clear a key procedural hurdle for a planned November listing, but the timing of the offering will still depend on market conditions and other factors. More importantly, ordinary investors will, for the first time, gain access to the financial details and risks of one of the fastest-growing companies in the AI industry.

Anthropic is investing billions of dollars to build AI infrastructure for training and running its Claude model series. Its partners include Google (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) and Amazon (AMZN.US), and the company also rents computing power from the Colossus 1 data center operated by SpaceX (SPCX.US).

According to media reports on Tuesday, Anthropic is projected to achieve $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026, with a net loss exceeding $8 billion. Reportedly, last week at its San Francisco office, Anthropic informed investors that third-quarter revenue rose from $11.5 billion in the second quarter to $16.8 billion and mentioned that the company has achieved profitability on an adjusted basis. However, the slowing quarter-on-quarter revenue growth rate remains a concern.

In an increasingly competitive IPO market this year, this massive fundraising is particularly noteworthy. Earlier this week, Korean data center service provider Elice fell 32% on its first trading day after raising $151 million. NVIDIA-backed Firmus Grid abruptly suspended its listing plans earlier this month due to investor opposition to its proposed valuation. Several other companies have also postponed listings, citing market conditions.

Recently, the share prices of AI-related listed companies have also fluctuated, as investors are becoming more cautious about large-scale capital requirements. Notably, CoreWeave has come under particularly close scrutiny, with investors questioning whether its future income can support its heavy debt load.

One source stated that, given the vast size of Anthropic, the timing of its IPO is also expected to have a significant impact on other companies seeking to go public in the coming weeks.

Anthropic was co-founded by CEO Dario Amodei and his sister Daniela, who serves as the company president. Through the Claude chatbot, the popular AI programming tool Claude Code, and Claude Cowork, the company has established a solid foothold in the enterprise market.

Competitor OpenAI was initially expected to launch its IPO this year but is now not expected to enter the public market until early 2027.