Report: Anthropic targets pre-Thanksgiving IPO launch, despite warning of AI’s ‘existential risks’

Report: Anthropic targets pre-Thanksgiving IPO launch, despite warning of AI’s ‘existential risks’

Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic PBC is reportedly forging ahead with its plans to go public and has set a new target date of Nov. 9, according to a report from Bloomberg that cited anonymous sources familiar with the matter — meaning shares would start trading before Thanksgiving.

The company, led by its Chief Executive Dario Amodei (pictured), hopes to begin formally marketing its initial public offering by the week of Nov. 9, but internal discussions about the exact timeline are still ongoing and could yet change. However, Bloomberg’s sources make it clear Anthropic is determined to go public before the end of the year, no matter what.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that it had seen a copy of Anthropic’s IPO prospectus, and said the company was most likely to wait until just after the midterm elections that take place on November 3. The AI startup, best known for its chatbot Claude, is expected to draw a valuation of more than $2 trillion from the sale, which would establish it as one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Investors are eager to get a piece of the company, even though its S-1 prospectus filing detailed some alarming financial details. For instance, Anthropic plans to spend a whopping $518 billion on AI infrastructure resources in the coming years. In its fiscal 2025 year, it recorded an operating loss of more than $8 billion, Reuters said, while its net loss came in at more than $42 billion. Revenue that year came to just $4.6 billion, up more than 12-times from the prior year, according to the prospectus.

In the document seen by Reuters, Anthropic dedicated several pages to what it termed “existential risks to humanity,” warning of the potential dangers of AI technology. For instance, it warned that some of its models could show “self-preserving behaviors,” such as by making efforts to resist being shut down by humans. It also detailed incidents where its models had tried to “conceal or manipulate information” and engage in behavior “resembling blackmail.” The document did not provide further details on those reported incidents.

However, Amodei has emerged as one of the most vocal AI fearmongers, despite building up immense fame and wealth because of the technology. Last month, he publicly called on AI model developers to “pace the frontier” by making a coordinated, industry-wide effort to slow down the pace of frontier model development to ensure the technology can be advanced in a safe way. In his essay, he detailed a comprehensive plan on how this could be done, calling for third-party observers to be embedded into model developer’s teams to keep tabs on their work.

The timing of Anthropic’s proposed IPO is critical, because it comes at a time when many analysts have speculated that the increased safety concerns could derail the multiyear AI boom that has propelled the shares of companies like Nvidia Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. into the stratosphere. Should Anthropic be forced to delay its IPO, as its rival OpenAI Group PBC appears to have already done, it could create a shockwave that negatively impacts other AI stocks.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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