Anthropic, the leading artificial intelligence company behind the chatbot Claude, is preparing for a major initiative: becoming a publicly traded company.
With its initial public offering on the Nasdaq expected in October, the tech company’s leaders foresee a $2 trillion market capitalization, which would make it one of the largest market debuts in U.S. history.
Anthropic was founded in January 2021 by siblings Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked for OpenAI, now one of the company’s largest competitors. Initially, Anthropic differentiated itself through its safety-first research focus and emphasis on enterprise sales instead of consumer appeal.
However, as revenue in the AI industry surged over time, the two companies have grown more similar, including in their pursuit of liquidity. A Nasdaq listing will likely spike Anthropic’s cash reserves, allowing for more investments in research and development.
Anthropic will also be the first major frontier AI company to IPO, according to Business Today. For Wall Street investors, who often look for strong revenue growth, profit margins and total addressable market, Anthropic’s offering could be promising.
The company reported around $11.5 billion in second-quarter revenue, almost 14 times more than the previous year, and its annualized revenue reached $65 billion by late July. The company also told investors that its adjusted operating income will remain positive for a second straight quarter.
Although still focused primarily on enterprise sales, Anthropic also reported strong consumer growth, generating $97.2 million in mobile consumer revenue.
Despite its ambitions, an IPO is also likely to introduce new challenges for Anthropic. Publicly traded companies must submit quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission disclosures that cover their financial situation in great detail.
The division of equity and ownership can introduce new obstacles for founders. Although IPOs allow ordinary retail investors to purchase shares, most shares traded on U.S. exchanges belong to institutions, according to Investopedia.
Hence, Anthropic’s IPO could allow major Wall Street asset managers, such as Blackrock and Vanguard, to greatly influence its vision and strategy. Unlike many competitors, Anthropic is a public benefit corporation, structurally designed to consider both profits and a broader safety-focused mission.
With this structure in place, a group called the Long-Term Benefit Trust has the power to elect a majority of Anthropic’s seven-member board and ensure that the company remains focused on public safety.
Despite this, Dario Amodei is preparing to create special voting shares to allow himself and the other co-founders to retain power and control after the company’s IPO.
Furthermore, the Nasdaq listing is also likely to help Anthropic attract talented engineers and AI researchers with stock options, allowing them to create more technological advancements. With an ambitious goal of reaching a $2 trillion value, Anthropic has chosen Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase for its underwriting syndicate.
If Anthropic does go public this year, its IPO would surpass SpaceX’s June offering.
