Artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, has revealed plans to go public in the United States, filing paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) this year. The move will allow investors to buy and sell shares of the AI startup on the stock market.
The company stated that the price and number of shares to be offered have not yet been set. Anthropic's stock market plans, alongside those of Elon Musk's SpaceX, are set to test whether investor appetite matches the soaring valuations of AI companies. Founded just five years ago, Anthropic recently raised funds from private investors at a valuation exceeding $965 billion, surpassing OpenAI's latest $852 billion valuation.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei founded the firm after leaving OpenAI over disagreements with its CEO Sam Altman. The two companies have become fierce rivals in the AI space. OpenAI is also reportedly considering going public this year, though Altman told CNBC there is no rush.
Analysts say Anthropic's IPO will be the most scrutinized public offering in tech history, with investors poring over business margins, sales, and profitability to assess whether AI valuations make financial sense. The IPO coincides with SpaceX's upcoming debut, representing what Pitchbook analyst Harrison Rolfes called "the largest concentration of pre-IPO capital ever brought to market simultaneously."
Anthropic has also been locked in a dispute with the US Department of Defense (DoD). After the DoD insisted on contractual terms allowing "any lawful use" of AI tools, including for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, Amodei raised concerns. President Donald Trump threatened to never do business with Anthropic again, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth banned the use of Claude by US agencies. Anthropic subsequently launched legal action against the government, which is ongoing despite signs of cooling tensions.
Despite the rift with the Trump administration, Anthropic expects to turn a profit in the first half of this year, citing significant growth in sales of its Claude product and related services. Neither SpaceX nor OpenAI are currently profitable.
Source: www.bbc.com