Artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced on June 2 that it has filed a confidential IPO application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to conduct an initial public offering on U.S. stock markets in 2026. The IPO offer price and number of shares have not yet been determined. Anthropic’s valuation in its most recent round of private financing has exceeded $965 billion, higher than OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation.
Confirmed Financial Status of Anthropic
Anthropic has told investors that, due to a substantial increase in sales of Claude-related products and services, it expects to become profitable in the first half of 2026. SpaceX and OpenAI are not profitable at present. Anthropic was founded five years ago by CEO Dario Amodei and several other executives; these founders previously worked at OpenAI and left due to disagreements with Sam Altman. The two companies have since become fierce competitors in the AI space.
Confirmed DoD Dispute
The contract dispute between Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) began in late 2024: the DoD insisted on adding terms to a $200 million contract stating that government agencies could use AI tools such as Claude for “any lawful purpose.” Amodei publicly expressed concerns about potential large-scale domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons applications. President Trump criticized the company, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a ban on any U.S. agencies using Claude. Anthropic has sued the government. As of the time of the BBC’s report, the lawsuit is still ongoing. The White House has recently released signals that tensions have eased, but there has been no formal settlement announcement.
Analyst Quotes
Troy Hooper, head of stock capital markets at Mergermarket, said: “Both Anthropic and OpenAI do not want to be the last large AI pure-play company to list. The early mover has the opportunity to truly define how public markets will assess generative AI, and to establish a benchmark that investors can use to measure everyone else.”
PitchBook research analyst Harrison Rolfes said Anthropic’s IPO “will be the most closely watched initial public offering in the history of technology.” Investors will closely examine its business profit margins, revenue, and profitability. Rolfes noted that the fact that Anthropic and SpaceX are listing at the same time “represents the highest pre-IPO capital concentration in the largest scale to have entered the market simultaneously.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How was Anthropic’s $965 billion valuation derived?
This valuation is based on Anthropic’s recent round of private investor fundraising, reflecting investors’ expectations for future growth, and is higher than OpenAI’s $852 billion private valuation. Both are based on assumptions about future growth rather than realized financial performance.
Is Anthropic currently profitable?
Anthropic has told investors that, due to a substantial increase in Claude-related sales, the company expects to become profitable in the first half of 2026. By contrast, SpaceX and OpenAI are currently not profitable.
What is the current progress of Anthropic’s lawsuit with the DoD?
As of the BBC’s June 2 report, the lawsuit is still ongoing. The White House has recently released signals that tensions have eased, but the lawsuit has not publicly reached a settlement. No clear updates were provided in this report regarding the status of the restrictions on DoD’s use of Claude.
