Anthropic is aiming to raise as much as $69.3 billion in its initial public offering, according to a copy of a filing seen by Reuters on Monday — a sum that would rank among the largest public offerings on record. But the details barely stayed public: they were briefly circulated to banks on Monday and retracted late the same day.
Reuters, citing emails it reviewed, reported that Anthropic told bankers the pricing information in the circulated filing was inaccurate and that an updated filing would follow. The company has not publicly commented on the $69.3 billion figure, and the size of the offering could still change before pricing.
A roadshow that starts with a stumble
The mix-up lands on the eve of the formal roadshow, which Reuters reported is expected to launch later on Tuesday, with pricing expected the following week. Anthropic plans to list its Class A shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker ANT, with a first trade targeted for the week before Thanksgiving.
The offering is widely seen as a bellwether for the artificial intelligence boom. A successful listing would test whether public-market investors still want to pay up for AI growth after a sharp selloff in technology shares last week — and markets have so far taken the retracted filing in stride, with little impact on broader trading, according to Reuters.
Valuation has slid by hundreds of billions
The reported raise comes after weeks of sliding valuation talk. Figures around $2 trillion circulated in early October, but institutional investors told Anthropic and its advisers in early November that $1.5 trillion to $1.6 trillion looked fair, according to the Wall Street Journal. By November 6, Bloomberg reported buyers were discussing $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion, with some as low as $1.1 trillion, after the Nasdaq 100 fell 6.4 percent in a single session on November 5.
An amended filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on November 2 showed third-quarter revenue of $16.96 billion, up 47 percent from the previous quarter, alongside about $895 billion in compute and infrastructure purchase and lease commitments running as far out as 2045. The filing leaves the share count and price range blank, which is standard for a registration statement that has not yet reached final pricing.
A blockbuster test for the AI boom
If the offering lands anywhere near the reported size, it would dwarf the current record for a public listing: Saudi Aramco raised $29.4 billion in its 2019 debut. Anthropic would be raising more than twice that, from a company whose last confirmed private valuation was $965 billion in a May funding round.
The company launched two new models, Claude Fable 5.2 and Claude Mythos 5.2, on Monday, as competition in AI intensifies ahead of the listing. Investors will now watch this week's roadshow for the corrected price range — and for whether the world's most anticipated IPO can steady itself after a very public false start.
