Anthropic files confidentially for US IPO with $965bn valuation — Claude Ai

Anthropic, the company behind claude ai, confidentially filed paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to pursue a US initial public offering this year. The filing moves the chatbot maker from private fundraising to a public-market test that could reset how investors price large AI companies.

The company said the price and number of shares to be offered have not yet been set. That leaves the offering structure open while Anthropic tries to gauge demand after a private valuation of more than $965bn.

Amodei’s company moves first

Dario Amodei founded Anthropic five years ago after working several years at OpenAI. He left after disagreements with chief executive Sam Altman. The listing plan now puts his company on a path that could force public investors to decide whether its valuation belongs closer to the private-market figure or to something lower once trading begins.

Anthropic’s recent valuation put it ahead of OpenAI, which was most recently valued by private investors at $852bn. That gap matters because both companies sell similar AI systems and compete for the same corporate buyers, so the first one to list will become the reference point the other cannot ignore.

OpenAI and Anthropic race

Troy Hooper, who leads equity capital markets at Mergermarket, said, "Neither Anthropic nor OpenAI wants to be the last major AI pure-play to list". Sam Altman said on Monday that OpenAI intended to go public but was in no rush to do so, adding, "We'll do it when it makes sense".

Harrison Rolfes, a research analyst at Pitchbook, said Anthropic's IPO "will be the most scrutinized public offering in tech history". He also said the 2026 window either becomes "the most consequential IPO cycle since the dot-com era or the most expensive lesson in narrative-versus-fundamentals that public markets have ever taught".

Price and shares remain open

The unresolved issue is the deal itself. Anthropic has not set the price or the number of shares, and those terms will determine how much cash it can raise and how much of the company public investors actually get to buy when the filing becomes a real offering.