Anthropic, the innovative AI company behind the Claude chatbot, is set to debut on New York's Nasdaq stock exchange with a lower-than-expected valuation of around $1.3 trillion. The loss-making firm plans to offer its shares at between $70 and $78 each, aiming to raise up to $64 billion when it floats this month. Despite the large valuation, it falls short of some investors' predictions of $2 trillion made in the summer, as reported by the Financial Times. The IPO comes amidst a volatile period for AI firms, with concerns over a potential slowdown in AI development and data center construction following the US midterm elections.
Anthropic's anticipated valuation is also dwarfed by SpaceX, Elon Musk's multifaceted company specializing in rockets, satellites, and artificial intelligence, which listed its shares at nearly $1.8 trillion in June. Founded just five years ago, Anthropic was co-founded in 2021 by Dario and Daniela Amodei, along with five other former OpenAI employees – the rival AI giant behind ChatGPT.
While concerns over spending on AI and its potential returns remain widespread, Fiona Cincotta, a senior market analyst at City Index, sees Anthropic's $64 billion fundraising as "fairly bullish" within the current volatility towards AI. She believes the company's optimism about the outlook for AI indicates that they expect demand to remain strong. In its most recent financial results for the six months ending June 2023, Anthropic reported revenues of $16.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the same period last year, despite a pre-tax loss that increased to $80.7 billion from $12.9 billion.
The upcoming IPO will be closely watched by investors and industry analysts alike as it offers insights into the current and future value of AI companies, particularly amidst concerns over returns on investment in this rapidly evolving field.