Anthropic, Maker of Claude, Plans Stock Sale to the Public

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the chatbot Claude, has said it intends to sell its stock to the public. The offering is expected to be the largest market debut in history, according to the BBC. The company will list on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol ANT, though the number of shares and their price range have not yet been set.

A stock market debut, usually called an initial public offering or IPO, is the first time a private company sells shares to ordinary investors on a public exchange. Anthropic announced in June that it intended to go public. On June 1, it confidentially submitted a draft registration statement, known as an S-1, to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulator that oversees American stock markets.

The company's value has grown quickly in private fundraising this year. In February, Anthropic raised $30 billion in Series G funding at a $380 billion post-money valuation, meaning the value measured after the new money came in. On May 28, it announced $65 billion in Series H funding at a $965 billion post-money valuation.

Markets are watching the size of the expected listing. The BBC reports that Anthropic's valuation when it goes public is expected to exceed that of SpaceX, whose listing this summer had an initial valuation of roughly $1.8 trillion and was the biggest stock listing on record. Yahoo Finance reported that Anthropic is targeting a valuation of up to $2 trillion. Bloomberg reported that Wall Street is pinning its hopes for a record year of listing fees on Anthropic's debut.

On timing, Reuters reported that Anthropic is expected to begin marketing its shares to prospective investors during the week of November 9.

The BBC also reports that Anthropic will be the first true AI company to go public. OpenAI has said it intends to go public too, with that listing expected early next year, according to a person familiar with OpenAI's plans. Technology companies poured more than $1 trillion into AI infrastructure and tools over the last year alone.

Anthropic was founded five years ago by chief executive Dario Amodei, his sister Daniela Amodei and five other co-founders. It is a public benefit corporation, a legal structure that commits a company to a public purpose alongside profit. The company says it focuses on AI research and products that put safety at the frontier.

In its new documents, Anthropic reiterated its promise to develop AI in a way that benefits people, while warning investors about the dangers of the technology.