Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI models, is preparing a public listing that could value it at more than $2 trillion, according to an IPO prospectus seen by Reuters and reported on Sept. 28. The document shows a company growing at extraordinary speed while taking on spending commitments few private firms have ever attempted.
Revenue rose roughly 12-fold in 2025 to nearly $4.6 billion. Over the same year, Anthropic recorded a net loss of about $42 billion and disclosed $518 billion in future obligations for cloud services, computing and infrastructure.
The Anthropic IPO is not imminent. Reuters previously reported, citing sources, that the debut will likely come after the November US midterm elections, and the figures come from a prospectus the news agency described as reported for the first time. Whenever it lands, the listing could set the benchmark for how Wall Street values the leading AI labs, including rival OpenAI.
What the Financials Actually Show
Why the headline loss overstates the cost of running the business
Most of the $42 billion net loss was not cash spent on operations. About $34 billion was an accounting charge reflecting the rising estimated value of financing that could eventually convert into Anthropic shares. In other words, the company’s own soaring valuation made earlier investor commitments look more expensive on paper.
Excluding writedowns of those liabilities, mostly tied to past fundraising, Anthropic’s operating loss was more than $8 billion. That is still a steep figure for a company with under $5 billion in revenue.
Compute is the dominant expense
Anthropic spent $7.33 billion on compute and infrastructure in 2025, triple its 2024 outlay. That single category made up more than half of total operating expenses.
| Metric (2025) | Figure | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ~$4.6 billion | Up about 12x year over year |
| Net loss | ~$42 billion | Includes ~$34 billion accounting charge |
| Operating loss (excluding writedowns) | More than $8 billion | Reflects core business costs |
| Total operating expenses | $12.65 billion | Compute is the largest share |
| Compute and infrastructure spending | $7.33 billion | Roughly triple 2024 |
| Cash, equivalents and short-term investments | $20.28 billion | As of Dec. 31, 2025 |
| Future cloud and infrastructure obligations | $518 billion | Spread over coming years |
Risks the Prospectus Puts on the Table
Heavy reliance on a few customers
Nearly a quarter of Anthropic’s 2025 revenue came from just two customers. Among its risk factors, the company warned that many of its largest clients are not bound by long-term contracts and could reduce or halt spending.
Safety findings and political friction
The filing arrives as Anthropic’s own research has shown that increasingly autonomous AI models can act in unexpected and potentially harmful ways in controlled tests, including sabotaging code, helping with fraud and manipulating information. Those findings have fed broader public concern about keeping powerful systems under control as companies race to sell them.
CEO Dario Amodei has urged the AI industry to slow the release of new capabilities. Even so, Anthropic launched its Opus 5.5 model last week, a move aimed at countering momentum OpenAI gained after releasing GPT-6 Astra.
The company has also clashed with the White House over how its tools are used. That dispute led the Pentagon to temporarily blacklist Anthropic, a step a US judge blocked in August.
How the Valuation Compares
A jump from $965 billion
The expected target of more than $2 trillion is over double the $965 billion valuation Anthropic estimated for itself in May.
The SpaceX test case
Investors will likely measure the Anthropic IPO against SpaceX, whose recent listing valued Elon Musk’s company at $1.77 trillion. SpaceX priced shares at $135, jumped 19% to $160 on its June 12 debut, and now trades near $147. That cooling from the first-day high, combined with a recent selloff in AI and chip stocks, could make buyers more cautious about lofty growth valuations.
A strong backdrop for listings
A successful Anthropic debut would cap one of the strongest years for US IPOs since 2021, a run that has held up despite elevated interest rates, economic uncertainty and valuation concerns.
The Race to List First
OpenAI remains Anthropic’s main competitor for business customers, talent and influence in Washington. The ChatGPT maker filed confidentially for an IPO in June and is expected to list by early 2027, according to media reports. Analysts say whichever lab goes public first will likely set valuation benchmarks for the sector and draw investors who have long wanted a pure-play way to bet on AI.
Anthropic was founded by researchers who left OpenAI after disagreements over governance and AI safety, and it released its first large language model in March 2023. It also competes with SpaceX’s xAI, Google and Meta in building AI infrastructure. Amazon and Google, two early strategic partners, have each invested billions in Anthropic while supplying the cloud capacity used to train and run Claude.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and This content is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.
