Anthropic planning IPO as AI race with OpenAI intensifies

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence start-up behind the Claude chatbot, has taken a significant step toward a potential public listing after engaging prominent US law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati to begin groundwork for an initial public offering, reported Financial Times.

While an IPO may not occur until 2026 at the earliest, the move signals the company’s growing intent to test public-market appetite for large, loss-making AI research groups at the centre of the industry’s rapid expansion.

The decision comes as both Anthropic and its larger competitor, OpenAI, explore preliminary preparations for potential listings, setting the stage for what could become one of the most closely watched races to the public market in the technology sector.

Legal and structural preparations underway

People familiar with Anthropic’s plans told the Financial Times that the start-up selected Wilson Sonsini in recent days to support IPO-related readiness work.

The law firm has advised Anthropic since 2022 and has a track record of representing companies in major Silicon Valley listings, including Google, LinkedIn, and Lyft.

The latest development follows internal efforts by Anthropic to prepare for the governance and operational changes required of a public company.

According to one source, the company has been working through a checklist of such measures, though specific details were not disclosed.

The start-up last year hired Krishna Rao, a former Airbnb executive who played a key role in that firm’s 2020 IPO, as chief financial officer, an appointment seen as further aligning Anthropic with public-company standards.

Despite these moves, a spokesperson for Anthropic said no decisions have been made about whether or when the company would go public.

The spokesperson added that it is “standard practice” for companies of Anthropic’s scale to operate as though they were publicly traded, even without firm plans to list.

Valuations reach unprecedented territory

Anthropic is simultaneously pursuing a private funding round that could value the company at more than $300 billion.

According to reports, the round includes a combined commitment of $15 billion from Microsoft and Nvidia, underscoring the intense capital requirements driving the generative AI sector.

CNBC’s report indicates the company was recently valued at as much as $350 billion after receiving up to $15 billion across the two investors.

Such valuations would position Anthropic among the highest-valued private technology companies in the world.

OpenAI, which recently closed a $6.6 billion share sale at a $500 billion valuation in October, faces similar pressures as its own rapid growth and high infrastructure costs complicate financial predictability.

Both companies’ potential IPOs would test investor sentiment amid rising concerns about whether AI valuations reflect sustainable business models or an emerging bubble.

Race to the public market with OpenAI

Anthropic’s preparations arrive as OpenAI conducts its own early-stage work on a possible listing, though sources emphasize that it is too early for the company to set a timeline.

Investors in Anthropic, however, reportedly believe an IPO could allow the company to “seize the initiative” from its rival by going public first.

Anthropic has been expanding aggressively, including a recently announced $50 billion AI infrastructure build-out and a tripling of its international workforce — investments aimed at strengthening its competitive position ahead of any future public offering.

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