Anthropic Eyes Record-Breaking IPO, Poised to Surpass SpaceX

Considering a Fundraising Scale Surpassing SpaceX
Revenue Surges Nearly Fourteenfold in Just One Year

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic is planning the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history, aiming to surpass SpaceX. It is expected that Anthropic could submit its IPO filing as early as the end of this month.

On August 20 (local time), Bloomberg, citing multiple sources, reported that Anthropic, in the process of preparing for its IPO, is considering either matching or surpassing the record for the largest-ever IPO set by SpaceX.

SpaceX, the space company led by Elon Musk, raised $75 billion in its initial IPO offering. Including the greenshoe option, which allowed underwriters to purchase additional shares if the stock price rose, the total fundraising reached $86.2 billion. According to Bloomberg data, this remains the largest IPO in history.

Anthropic is currently carrying out detailed calculations regarding the IPO size and corporate valuation. However, specific details, including the scale of the IPO, are still under discussion and may ultimately be subject to change.

If Anthropic's IPO indeed surpasses SpaceX's record, it would set an unprecedented milestone for the U.S. IPO market this year.

Bloomberg noted that Anthropic's push for a massive IPO demonstrates how leading AI companies are reshaping the technology investment landscape. Founded in 2021, Anthropic secured $65 billion in funding this past May, which placed its corporate valuation at $965 billion. This exceeds rival OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion during its own $122 billion fundraising round in March.

The company's revenue growth has also been remarkable. Anthropic's preliminary revenue for the second quarter of this year surpassed $11.5 billion. This is more than a fourteenfold increase compared to $787 million in the same period last year.

As of the end of last month, Anthropic's annualized run rate reached $65 billion. Run rate is an indicator used to estimate annual revenue assuming that recent sales trends continue going forward. Profitability is also improving, with Anthropic reportedly posting a profit on an adjusted operating income basis in the second quarter of this year.

However, the enormous costs involved in developing AI models remain a significant burden. Anthropic recorded a net loss of about $42 billion last year—approximately five times greater than the $8.3 billion loss in the previous year.

AI firms such as Anthropic must secure massive computing resources to train cutting-edge "frontier models." Anthropic also signed a computing resources supply contract with SpaceX that could be worth tens of billions of dollars over the next three years.

Meanwhile, both Anthropic and OpenAI have submitted confidential filings for their listings, but Anthropic appears more likely to go public first. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI is currently considering an IPO in 2027.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.