Anthr opic targets a valuation of up to $1.4 trillion for its IPO

The American start-up Anthropic, creator of the artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Claude, announced Tuesday that it plans to raise up to $64 billion for its IPO, which should value the company at around $1,400 billion. In a document sent to the American stock market watchdog (SEC), the start-up explains that it is preparing to put 825 million new shares on the market, the unit price of which will be within a range of 70 to 78 dollars.

At the same time, seven of the most prominent technology companies, like chip specialists Nvidia and AMD or Alphabet, will buy $26 billion worth of non-voting shares, at the same price. Most of these companies have already invested in Anthropic or are key partners in running the servers necessary for the development of AI models. At the highest of the envisaged range, the fundraising will allow the creator of Claude to display a valuation of around 1,400 billion dollars. A colossal sum for a five-year-old company, but below the record set in June by SpaceX, Elon Musk's jewel, and its 1.770 billion. During the summer, several American media outlets shared more optimistic estimates, ensuring that Anthropic could set a new record for an IPO.

“There are three giants in which investors want to invest”

But the start-up is suffering from a context where the AI sector is in upheaval on the stock market, particularly due to the colossal sums swallowed up to develop and operate cutting-edge models. The Democratic victory in the mid-term elections in the United States, with the prospect of tougher regulations for data centers, added to the tension. The future listing of Anthropic "is just another chapter" in investors' concerns about the cost of developing AI and its method of financing, said Art Hogan, an analyst at wealth manager B. Riley Wealth Management, to AFP.

However, according to him, “there are three giants in which investors have wanted to invest for three years: SpaceX, of course, then Anthropic, and perhaps OpenAI next year.” Anthropic's first stock market steps could take place as early as mid-November. The company will be listed on Nasdaq, the Technology Stock Exchange, under the symbol “ANT”.

According to the document shared on Tuesday, the company generated revenue of $17 billion in the third quarter. It stood at 1.4 billion a year earlier. Anthropic could generate up to $81 billion over the full year, according to its projections, which are based on current revenues. Massive pace for a young company. Facebook or Google, considered examples in this area, had not yet crossed the threshold of one billion dollars in turnover at this stage of their existence. Anthropic’s IPO filing also highlights the risks associated with this technology, recalling fears that advanced AI systems “could present catastrophic or existential risks to society if not developed and deployed responsibly.”

Monstrous costs

The company also warns that its public stances regarding AI regulation and safety could expose it to “political backlash or disproportionate regulatory action.” She already mentions the restrictions imposed earlier this year by the US government on the advanced AI models Mythos 5 and Fable 5 for non-US customers. The Pentagon also accused Anthropic of being a national security risk after the company refused to lift restrictions on military use of its technology.

Other threats to Anthropic include its monstrous costs. The start-up has committed to investing hundreds of billions of dollars in computing capacity and a large part of these investments will have to be honored regardless of the demand for its products. According to the governance structure described on Tuesday, the seven co-founders, led by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, will retain a little more than half of the voting rights of shareholders.