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Anthropic could publicly file IPO prospectus as soon as October 26, eyes listing in mid-November

Anthropic could publicly file its IPO prospectus as soon as U.S. time October 26, and plans to list in mid-November. The company confidentially filed with the U.S. SEC in June this year. Earlier market discussions put its valuation at about $2 trillion, but as AI-related stocks have come under pressure, some investors have recently lowered their expectations to about $1.5 trillion.

Reuters and The Wall Street Journal have obtained drafts. Revenue in the first half of this year reached $16.3 billion, compared with $1.1 billion a year earlier; net loss in the same period reached $80.7 billion, of which about $72 billion came from valuation adjustments on financing instruments such as convertible notes and did not represent actual cash spending. Revenue in the third quarter reached $16.8 billion, up about 45% quarter over quarter, after a gain of more than 140% in the previous quarter. The company said it was profitable on an adjusted basis in the third quarter. Its future commitments for infrastructure such as cloud computing, chips and data centers have exceeded $600 billion and will be incurred gradually over the coming years.

In 2025, 47% of Anthropic's revenue was sold through Amazon and Google cloud platforms, and the two companies are also its investors and compute suppliers. The company plans for seven co-founders to jointly control 50.1% of the voting power through a special equity structure, while a long-term public-benefit trust made up of non-shareholders would still be able to appoint and remove a majority of the board. The formal prospectus will still need to further explain the true revenue contribution from the two major customers, the specific costs of compute contracts, and whether early shareholders will be able to sell shares first at the time of the listing.

Original sources:

  1. Title: EXCLUSIVE: Anthropic's IPO prospectus shows sweeping AI vision, surging costs Publisher: Reuters Publication date: 2026-09-28 URL：https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/anthropics-ipo-prospectus-shows-sweeping-ai-vision-surging-costs-2026-09-28/ Nature of source: media report Verification status: Full text actually read in this review, verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: supports valuation discussion, net loss composition (including non-cash valuation adjustments), infrastructure commitments and other draft contents

  2. Title: Anthropic revenue hits $16.3 billion as preliminary S-1 outlines IPO risks - WSJ Publisher: Yahoo Finance / The Wall Street Journal Publication date: 2026-10-20 URL：https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/anthropic-revenue-hits-16-3-201813965.html Nature of source: media report Verification status: Full text actually read in this review, verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: supports first-half revenue of $16.3 billion, net loss of $80.7 billion (about $72 billion non-cash), compute and infrastructure spending, and other items

  3. Title: EXCLUSIVE: Anthropic IPO prospectus lays bare deep dependence on Big Tech partners Publisher: Reuters Publication date: 2026-09-29 URL：https://www.reuters.com/world/anthropic-ipo-prospectus-lays-bare-deep-dependence-big-tech-partners-2026-09-29/ Nature of source: media report Verification status: Full text actually read in this review, verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: supports 47% of 2025 revenue sold through Amazon and Google cloud platforms, and the two being investors and compute suppliers

  4. Title: EXCLUSIVE: Anthropic leaders to control AI lab via 'Founder LLC' to promote public good over market forces Publisher: Reuters Publication date: 2026-09-28 URL：https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/anthropic-leaders-control-ai-lab-via-founder-llc-promote-public-good-over-market-2026-09-29/ Nature of source: media report Verification status: Full text actually read in this review, verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: supports the seven co-founders jointly controlling 50.1% of voting power through a special structure, and the long-term public-benefit trust being able to appoint and remove a majority of the board

  5. Title: Anthropic Targets November IPO After Delays, Eyes SpaceX-Sized Debut Publisher: Bloomberg Publication date: 2026-10-01 URL：https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-01/anthropic-said-to-target-mega-ipo-before-thanksgiving-holiday Nature of source: media report Verification status: Summary and report actually read in this review, verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: supports the plan to list in mid-November, a roadshow starting the week of November 9, and a timetable for trading before Thanksgiving

ABAB AI Insight

Anthropic was founded by seven co-founders including Dario Amodei and is positioned as a safety-focused AI lab, with the Claude family of models as its main product. Its revenue in 2025 was about $4.6 billion, and in the first half of 2026 it reached $16.3 billion, showing rapid expansion in enterprise API and consumer use. Amazon and Google are both major cloud distribution channels (47% of revenue in 2025) as well as large investors and compute suppliers, creating multiple ties across sales, capital and infrastructure.

Of the $80.7 billion net loss in the first half, about $72 billion came from accounting treatment for upward valuation adjustments on financing instruments such as convertible notes, rather than current-period cash burn; the company reported profitability on an adjusted basis, while compute and infrastructure spending in the first half was close to $9 billion. Non-cancellable cloud and chip commitments over the next several years amount to hundreds of billions of dollars, with some reports putting the total at more than $600 billion. This structure means revenue growth must continue to cover long-term fixed compute costs, or insufficient utilization will magnify losses.

Compared with peers such as OpenAI, Anthropic has set up a Founder LLC and a long-term public-benefit trust mechanism in its governance: the seven founders together control 50.1% of voting power, and the trust can appoint and remove a majority of the board. This preserves the founders' direction while seeking to limit the influence of pure market forces over safety goals. The decline in valuation discussion from about $2 trillion to the $1.5 trillion level mentioned by some investors has appeared alongside pressure on the broader AI sector and a slowdown in quarterly growth from more than 140% to about 45%.

If the formal prospectus confirms the above figures and structure, the public market will be facing a company with high growth, large compute commitments, strong founder control, and heavy dependence on two cloud giants. Indicators to watch include the disclosure precision in the formal filing on the two major customers' revenue share, the non-cancellable portion of compute contracts, and arrangements for lock-up periods for early shareholders.

ABAB News · Cognition law

  1. More than half of the enormous net loss in the first half came from valuation adjustments on financing instruments rather than current-period cash burn.

  2. The overlap between sales channels, investors and compute suppliers ties revenue growth to supplier bargaining power at the same time.

  3. The founders' voting rights, combined with the trust's power to appoint and remove directors, limit the practical influence of public shareholders over direction-setting decisions.