AI giant Anthropic confidentially files IPO papers with SEC amid AI frenzy

AI giant Anthropic announced on Monday that it has confidentially filed for a US initial public offering (IPO), setting the stage for a potentially historic share sale as investors rush to gain exposure to the artificial intelligence boom.

“Today, Anthropic, PBC confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of our common stock. This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review,” the company said in a official statement.

Anthropic did not disclose the number of shares to be offered or terms of the public offering. It also said that the proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.

Valuation surges ahead of key rival OpenAI

The AI company last raised $65 billion at a post-money valuation of $965 billion in late May, reflecting strong investor confidence in the company's growth prospects and AI capabilities, news agency Reuters reported. The valuation places Anthropic among the world's most valuable private technology companies and ahead of rival OpenAI.

Anthropic's move toward a public listing comes as investor enthusiasm for AI remains at record levels. The filing follows the highly anticipated IPO of SpaceX, which is reportedly pursuing a $75 billion offering at a $1.75 trillion valuation, according to a Reuters news report.

Rival OpenAI and Anthropic have emerged as the two most prominent players in the AI boom that has redrawn corporate strategies, fueled a global arms race for computing power and talent, and turned AI-linked companies into some of the market's most richly valued firms. The planned IPO further highlights the intensifying competition among leading artificial intelligence firms as they compete for market share and investment.

Anthropic's valuation has more ​than doubled from $380 billion in February, when it had raised $30 billion in a funding round, the news agency reported.

About Anthropic

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of executives and researchers who left OpenAI over concerns about the company’s direction. The AI startup is popular in the technology world for its family of AI models called Claude, which power products like its popular coding assistant, Claude Code.

The company has gathered major attention from Wall Street this year by announcing a model called Claude Mythos Preview, an advanced AI model with enhanced cybersecurity capabilities. The company made the model available to a select group of companies as part of a cybersecurity initiative called Project Glasswing, with a goal to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities that human engineers find hard to spot.