Anthropic confidentially files for IPO at nearly $1 trillion valuation, setting the stage for the biggest AI listing yet

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, said Monday that it has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, taking the first formal step toward what could become one of the largest and most closely watched technology listings in history.

“Today, Anthropic, PBC confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the U.S. 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 proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors,” the Claude maker said in a news release.

The filing arrives at a time when artificial intelligence has become the dominant force driving capital markets. Investors have poured hundreds of billions of dollars into AI startups, data centers, chips, and infrastructure, betting that the technology will reshape industries ranging from software and healthcare to finance and manufacturing.

At the center of that wave sits Anthropic.

The company was most recently valued at $965 billion following a $65 billion funding round in late May. If that valuation holds through its public debut, Anthropic would enter public markets as one of the most valuable companies on Earth and instantly join the upper ranks of the S&P 500.

Anthropic did not disclose the size or terms of the offering.

Anthropic Joins IPO Rush: AI Startup Nears $1 Trillion Valuation Ahead of Public Debut

The move marks another milestone in a year already packed with blockbuster listings. It follows SpaceX’s push toward a record-setting public offering that could value Elon Musk’s aerospace company at roughly $1.75 trillion. OpenAI, Anthropic’s biggest rival in the race to build advanced AI systems, is reportedly preparing its own confidential IPO filing in the coming weeks.

Taken together, the developments signal that the biggest names in artificial intelligence are preparing to test whether public investors share the same enthusiasm that private markets have shown over the past several years.

That question carries enormous weight.

Anthropic and OpenAI have become two of the defining companies of the AI era. Their products are increasingly used by businesses, developers, researchers, and consumers. Their growth has fueled a global competition for computing power, semiconductor supply, engineering talent, and data center capacity.

Anthropic’s rise has been especially dramatic.

The company’s valuation has more than doubled since February, when it raised $30 billion at a valuation of roughly $380 billion. Its ascent has attracted attention far beyond Silicon Valley, Reuters reported. Earlier this year, concerns about increasingly autonomous AI systems contributed to volatility across software and IT stocks as investors reassessed how quickly AI could disrupt existing business models.

For bankers, investors, and market strategists, Anthropic’s IPO represents more than another technology offering.

It may become a referendum on the AI investment boom itself.

Public market investors have largely participated in the AI trade through established companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. An Anthropic listing would give investors direct exposure to one of the companies building the large language models that have fueled the current AI surge.

The offering could provide a much-needed boost to an IPO market that has struggled to regain momentum since the post-pandemic slowdown. At the same time, analysts caution that an offering of this scale could absorb significant investor capital and shift attention away from smaller companies seeking to go public.

For now, many of the details remain under wraps. Confidential filings allow companies to begin the IPO process privately before publicly releasing financial statements and other disclosures.

Those answers will come later.

What is already clear is that Anthropic’s filing marks another sign that artificial intelligence is moving from a venture capital phenomenon into the core of public markets. The next chapter of the AI boom may no longer be written behind closed doors in Silicon Valley. It may soon be playing out on Wall Street.