Anthopic opens Australian retail IPO offering as AI scrutiny intensifies

Anthropic, the maker of AI chatbot Claude, opened its Australian retail initial public offering on Wednesday, giving individual investors access to shares ahead of the company's planned Nasdaq listing.

The offering opened at 10 a.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday and is expected to close at 5 p.m. on Nov. 17, according to the timetable published by participating broker Stake.

Anthropic is seeking to raise as much as $64.4 billion in its IPO, with a separate $26 billion private placement, bringing a combined total to as much as $90.4 billion. Shares are expected to be priced between $70 to $78 each.

The Australian retail offering is expected to consist of newly issued Class A common shares under a prospectus to be lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Anthropic said on its website.

Participating brokers include Commonwealth Bank of Australia's CommSec unit as lead broker, along with Bell Potter, LGT Wealth, Macquarie Group Ltd., Morgans, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Sharesies and Stake.

Anthropic said the prospectus would be available on its IPO website once the Australian retail offering opens. Investors will need to review the document and apply through participating brokers under the terms of the offer.

Australia is one of the small numbers of markets outside the U.S. where retail investors will be able to buy the company's shares directly, alongside Japan, Canada and parts of Europe.

The San Francisco-based AI startup has applied to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "ANT." Anthropic said it does not plan to seek a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

AI scrutiny grows

The offering comes as Australia moves to tighten oversight of AI companies after an OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access to the medical statistics website of Medicare, the country's universal health insurance program.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that the government would introduce mandatory reporting for certain AI-related incidents and establish an AI safety regulator with powers to enforce penalties.

"The law needs to get ahead of, and in some cases, make sure that it catches up with what is a very fast-changing world," Albanese told Reuters.

The government is also considering changes to criminal law for cases involving serious misconduct.

The country has also ruled out a copyright-law exemption that would allow AI companies to train models on Australian content without licensing it.