Anthropic is moving closer to a public listing as bankers begin scheduling meetings between investors and executives of the artificial intelligence startup, according to a person familiar with the plans. The sessions indicate that preparations for a potential initial public offering are progressing, with the company having confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the SEC last month. The AI firm behind the Claude model series could debut on public markets as soon as October, though the timeline remains subject to change, Bloomberg reported.
IPO preparations gain momentum
Bankers from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are leading the offering, the person said. The meetings are a preliminary step to gauge investor interest before a formal roadshow and eventual share sale. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment on the plans. The IPO would follow SpaceX's massive June listing and signal a broader opening of public markets to AI-focused companies that have largely remained private while raising hundreds of billions of dollars.
Anthropic appears poised to beat rival OpenAI to the public markets, which could be a strategic advantage if enthusiasm for artificial intelligence later cools. OpenAI also confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC last month but has not disclosed further details. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives and researchers who left over disagreements about the company's direction. It has found early traction with enterprise customers, particularly through its coding assistant Claude Code.
Valuation and market positioning
The startup closed a $65 billion funding round at a $965 billion valuation in May, surpassing OpenAI's $852 billion valuation for the first time. The AI spending boom has driven a resurgence in profit for Wall Street firms as they work to satisfy investor demand for ways to fund the buildout and hedge against AI-related themes. An Anthropic listing would add to the momentum of companies at the center of the AI revolution entering public markets.