Soaring revenues fuel investor optimism despite growing competition, regulatory pressure and high AI costs
An image depicting the company Anthropic. — ANADOLU
Anthropic investors are betting that the artificial intelligence company could seek a valuation of at least $2 trillion in a potential October stock market debut, a figure that would eclipse SpaceX and make it the largest initial public offering (IPO) on record.
Six investors in the five-year-old company told the Financial Times that Anthropic’s rapidly rising revenue could support more than a doubling of its current valuation, according to a report published on Thursday.
Investors said they expect Anthropic’s annualised revenue to reach between $100 billion and $120 billion by the end of 2026, using a measure that projects full-year sales from recent performance. That would represent more than tenfold growth during the year.
“If Anthropic is growing 800% a year, you’d think at the incredibly low end they would trade at 30 times [revenue],” one investor told the Financial Times. “That would make them a $3 trillion company.”
Anthropic has no directly comparable publicly listed US AI lab, leaving investors to look to companies such as Palantir and Nebius, which have traded at roughly 55 times revenue this year.
The company has not yet set an IPO valuation target, according to several investors. Its bullish backers nevertheless argue that demand for its AI models and business tools justifies a lofty valuation.
Read: Anthropic disables top-tier AI models after US order limiting foreign access
The optimism comes as Anthropic faces growing risks. Revenue growth slowed in June, two investors familiar with the matter told the UK Daily, amid a temporary US Commerce Department ban affecting its leading models.
The company has also faced disputes with the Trump administration and remains in litigation with the US Department of Defence.
High AI costs and growing competition could also put pressure on the company. Anthropic’s leading model costs more than two and a half times as much to use as OpenAI’s flagship model, while Chinese open-weight alternatives are available at a fraction of the price, according to the Financial Times.
Anthropic filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, placing it in a quiet period ahead of a possible listing.
