Anthropic is seeking a valuation of approximately $1.4 trillion as it prepares for its stock market debut. The company behind the Claude AI assistant aims to raise as much as $64.4 billion, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The listing will give public investors their first opportunity to see how much a major AI company is worth.

The numbers behind the offering

According to the SEC filing, Anthropic and some of its existing investors are selling shares priced between $70 and $78 each. The company is offering 801.4 million shares, while its investors are selling an additional 23.6 million, bringing the total number of shares on offer to 825 million.

Anthropic is also raising $26 billion from private investors, which could lift its total fundraising to $90.4 billion, according to Reuters. That would rank the deal among the largest fundraising efforts in the tech industry.

The company has revised its fundraising target several times. An earlier draft showed plans to raise up to $69.3 billion from the public sale, but the target was later lowered to $64.4 billion. The Globe and Mail reported that Anthropic shared the deal terms with investment banks before withdrawing them late on November 9. With the terms already revised more than once, the final size and pricing will not be settled until the sale is priced, making that step the next milestone to watch.

Companies involved in Anthropic's IPO

Major technology companies are backing Anthropic's private share sale. Google's parent Alphabet, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are among the AI company's financial backers, alongside Broadcom, Micron Technology, Microsoft and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The breadth of that backer list ties a large swath of the AI hardware and cloud industry directly to Anthropic's performance as a listed company.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are leading the banks in charge of the offering. Once the IPO is complete, Anthropic's shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “ANT.”

Growth outruns doubts

Anthropic's revenue grew 47% to $16.96 billion in the third quarter, slower than the 144% growth recorded in the previous quarter. The company's net loss also declined.

The Financial Times reported that Anthropic's annual revenue rate reached $81 billion in October, up $10 billion from September. The company said more people are using Claude, including its tools for health care, finance and legal services.

Anthropic is also facing substantial costs. The company has roughly $900 billion in computing deals with Amazon, Google and other partners, and some of this spending depends on external funding. Both sides of that equation — fast-growing revenue and very large computing obligations — will be visible to public investors for the first time once trading begins.

In its prospectus, Anthropic said it hopes to “bring forth an age of miracles,” while also warning that AI could pose serious risks to humanity.

Investors more cautious about AI

The timing may also work against Anthropic. The Nasdaq recorded its biggest one-day fall in 19 months on November 5, following growing concerns that Democrats' gains in the U.S. midterm elections could lead to tighter rules on data center construction. The Financial Times noted that Democrats have pledged to slow data center expansion.

Anthropic's target valuation remains below SpaceX's. Elon Musk's company went public in June with a $1.78 trillion valuation while raising $86 billion. Anthropic's $1.4 trillion target is also lower than earlier estimates of nearly $2 trillion. The company was last valued at $965 billion in a private funding round in May.

Anthropic's backers are hoping more investors will buy its shares, the Financial Times reported. These include index funds and large investment firms that do not yet own the stock but may have to purchase it once Anthropic joins major market indexes. Whether Anthropic is added to those indexes, and how the U.S. debate over data center construction develops, are the near-term developments to watch once the shares begin trading.