Anthropic IPO hopes cool to $1.5T

What happened

Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude models, was among Google's daily trending searches in France and Poland this week as news about its planned stock market listing moved through markets. Reuters reported on 15 October that some current and prospective investors now expect a lower valuation for the share sale planned for November. According to three sources cited by Reuters, attendees at an investor day in San Francisco on Wednesday mentioned a valuation of about $1.5 trillion, down from the roughly $2 trillion investors had previously expected.

Strong growth, but slower

Anthropic told potential investors that third-quarter revenue rose 45% from the previous quarter to $16.8 billion and that it posted an adjusted profit for the quarter, Reuters reported. Some investors were disappointed because growth slowed: revenue had more than doubled between the first and second quarters, to $11.6 billion. Reuters also reported that the prospectus it reviewed in September showed a $42 billion loss for 2025, and that the company has committed to pay at least $518 billion over a decade for cloud services, compute and infrastructure.

A pension chief asks for a delay

Separately, New York City Comptroller Mark Levine wrote to chief executive Dario Amodei asking the company to postpone the listing, BFM Bourse reported, citing AFP. Levine oversees pension funds for city employees, teachers, police and firefighters, with $330 billion under management at the end of August. He asked Anthropic to first address the safety, governance and pace-of-development issues the company itself has raised. His office told AFP the funds hold $7 million in Anthropic, a small amount, but would gain indirect exposure through index funds if the company joins indices such as the Russell 3000. Anthropic had not publicly responded, according to the report.

Background: a nervous stock market today

The listing news lands during a sell-off in technology shares. Reuters said investor concerns come as AI infrastructure firms, chipmakers and so-called neocloud providers have fallen, and other listings have stumbled: SB Energy postponed its IPO last month and Holtec Nuclear withdrew its plan. "Stock market today" was also trending in Singapore, where the linked CNBC story described investors rotating away from the AI trade. In crypto news, a CoinMarketCap market summary dated 15 October reported a broad drop in crypto prices that it linked to US inflation data, so the bitcoin price moved in a risk-off week as well.

Why it matters beyond tech

A listing of this size reaches people who never buy a single share. As the New York comptroller's office pointed out to AFP, index funds would automatically become long-term holders if Anthropic enters major indices, which is how pension savers end up with indirect exposure. That is why the valuation, the timing and the governance questions raised in the letter matter to a wider group than technology investors.

What to watch next

Key markers are the final price range and timing of the November listing, whether Anthropic responds to the New York letter, and whether the sell-off in AI-linked shares eases. Reuters also pointed to a possible OpenAI listing next year, which would be another test of investor appetite for AI companies.

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