Anthropic nears $965B IPO as bankers schedule investor meetings

Anthropic is set to become the most valuable AI company to go public, with a potential October listing that would eclipse rival OpenAI and test investor appetite for the sector's sky-high valuations.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are scheduling meetings between Anthropic executives and prospective investors in the coming weeks, according to a person familiar with the plans. The sessions, known as "testing the waters," allow underwriters to gauge institutional demand before a formal roadshow and share sale.

The AI startup confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, saying the submission "gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review." The company did not disclose a share count or price range. A representative declined to comment on the investor meetings.

Anthropic was valued at $965 billion after a $65 billion funding round in May, surpassing OpenAI's $852 billion valuation for the first time. The company has seen rapid revenue growth driven by enterprise demand for Claude, its family of AI models, and Claude Code, a coding assistant that has become one of its most popular products. Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers concerned about that company's direction, Anthropic has positioned itself as the safety-focused alternative in the AI arms race.

The IPO Window Opens

Anthropic's potential debut would follow SpaceX's blockbuster June IPO and a U.S. listing last week by memory chipmaker SK Hynix, both tied to AI infrastructure demand. Listings so far this year have raised $227.5 billion, the highest annual haul since 2021 when stripped of blank-check companies, according to Bloomberg data.

The offering would put Anthropic ahead of OpenAI, which confidentially filed for its own IPO in June but has pushed its target to 2027, according to Bloomberg. DeepSeek, the Chinese AI firm that has gained market share with competitive models, is also preparing for an IPO and could file as soon as this year.

Risks and Competition

Anthropic faces lingering uncertainty tied to the Trump administration, which briefly imposed foreign access restrictions on two of its models. The company also sued the Defense Department after it was declared a risk to the U.S. supply chain. Export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 were lifted this month, according to the company.

The AI spending boom has fueled a resurgence in profit for Wall Street banks advising on these offerings. Morgan Stanley reported record investment banking revenue in its second-quarter results this week, driven partly by technology IPO advisory fees.

For investors, the question is whether Anthropic can sustain its growth trajectory as a public company. OpenAI trades at a premium in private markets based on revenue multiples that some analysts consider stretched. Anthropic's $965 billion valuation implies expectations of continued dominance in enterprise AI, where it competes directly with OpenAI's GPT models and Google's Gemini family. The company's ability to convert its safety-focused brand into durable revenue will face quarterly scrutiny once it begins reporting earnings.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.