Anthropic posts $16.8 billion in quarterly revenue ahead of IPO, New York calls for pause

“Thinking” caps, and not a word about extinction. On Wednesday October 14, Anthropic brought together its future investors in its San Francisco offices. It announced $16.8 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 45%. The group also posted an adjusted profit for the second consecutive quarter. Thus, the schedule announced in September holds. The roadshow is targeting the week of November 9, just after the midterm elections. The targeted valuation exceeds $2,000 billion. But the next day, the New York City comptroller asked to stop everything.

Key Points

Quarterly revenues increased from 4.7 to 11.6 then 16.8 billion dollars in 2026.

Mark Levine (more than $325 billion in pension funds) requires audits, controls and timetable before any IPO.

Anthropic gave six METR employees “employee-like” access on the same day to audit its risks.

Anthropic: exploding revenues, deflating expectations

The figures presented on Wednesday depict growth that few companies have experienced. Revenue fell from $4.7 billion in the first quarter to 11.6, then 16.8. In comparison, the group made 4.6 billion last year, losing more than 8 billion in operations. In front of investors, Dario Amodei and financial director Krishna Rao insisted on adjusted profitability. They also praised the internal use of their models, up to the design of an in-house chip. Participants left with caps, some emblazoned with the word “thinking”. But no one told them about the risk of extinction. The prospectus filed last month, however, describes it as “catastrophic or existential”.

The reservation, however, lies in the projections. Reuters reports that analysts see annualized revenue reaching $110 billion by the end of 2026. But SemiAnalysis estimates it more around $74 billion. Its analyst Joey Brookhart explains to the Financial Times that investors have been lowering their forecasts for three months. Indeed, large clients like Meta are switching to their own tools. The company has not communicated a run rate. On the other hand, it recalled $518 billion in commitments over ten years in cloud and infrastructure.

New York calls for a break, METR enters the walls

New York City Comptroller Mark Levine wrote to Dario Amodei on Wednesday. He asks him to postpone the IPO. His office manages pension funds with more than $325 billion in assets. In his letter, he considers the “morally binding” agreement of September 29 insufficient. This text links the White House and AI laboratories. He therefore demands that Anthropic “specifies how it will implement appropriate audits and controls”. He also wants to know their scope and “a forecast schedule”. On Thursday, he hit the nail on the head on CNBC. “Rather than rushing headlong towards its IPO, the company should devote its energy to these unprecedented risks. » Anthropic did not respond.

The answer may have arrived through another channel. The same day, Anthropic announced it had given six people at METR “employee-like” access. This nonprofit organization evaluates boundary models. Its assessors therefore have internal equipment, offices and tools, like Anthropic’s risk teams. METR will publish its analyzes without company veto. This can only require redactions in predefined categories, which METR can also contest publicly. For its part, SecureBio rereads the chemical and biological weapons chapter of the August risk report. A model inspired by banking supervision, with resident examiners.