AI Headwinds Cloud Anthropic IPO, Too, Amid Fears of Sharp Valuation Drop

"Valuation Could Be Lowered to $1 Trillion"
OpenAI's Funding Round Also Falls Short

Reuters-Yonhap News

Investors are concerned that Anthropic, which is pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) this month, may struggle to secure its target valuation of $1.5 trillion (approximately 2 quadrillion won), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Thursday, Nov. 5, local time.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ reported that "three major investors planning to participate in Anthropic's IPO have said its valuation needs to be adjusted downward," adding that "one of them even offered a specific estimate, predicting that the actual listing valuation could fall to around $1 trillion." The report also noted that "other investors were skeptical, saying it would be difficult to persuade institutional investors who suffered losses in the tech stock rout following the midterm elections to make large-scale investments in the AI sector again."

There are also concerns that Anthropic's IPO schedule could be delayed. The company had originally planned to hold an investor roadshow and set its IPO price next week. However, amid controversy over excessive investment across the AI sector and waning investor sentiment, investors are increasingly questioning whether the listing will proceed as planned.

Anthropic had initially been expected to reach a listing valuation of up to $2 trillion, with some predicting it would set a record as the most valuable company ever to go public. The record for the highest listing valuation to date was set in June, when SpaceX, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was valued at $1.77 trillion.

However, the situation worsened as skepticism about AI spread around the U.S. midterm elections and investor sentiment weakened sharply. The market capitalization of Nasdaq-listed companies fell by $2.5 trillion (approximately 3.4 quadrillion won) in a single day on Nov. 5.

OpenAI, which previously postponed its IPO process until next year or later, recently raised just $11.1 billion in its latest funding round, less than half of its original target of $30 billion. Its valuation also came in below its target, at $1.25 trillion.

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