Bloomberg reported the oversubscription on Wednesday 11 November, a day after the offering’s investor roadshow began. Bloomberg’s sources, as cited by Kauppalehti, said large preliminary subscription intentions from anchor investors had driven demand for shares in Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI model. Anchor investors are large investors who state their intention to subscribe early in an offering.

Oversubscription means investors want to buy more shares than are on offer. Bloomberg did not say by how much demand exceeds supply, Gizmodo reported. Bloomberg’s sources noted that details of the offering could still change. Anthropic did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.

Part of the proceeds goes to existing shareholders

The offering comprises 825 million shares priced at $70–78, Kauppalehti reported. At the top of the range, the sale is worth about $64.4 billion before the over-allotment option. That sum includes shares sold by existing shareholders, and Anthropic receives none of those proceeds. The lead banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are expected to receive an option to buy up to 123.75 million additional shares within 30 days, Gizmodo reported.

Anthropic is also carrying out a $26 billion private placement, selling shares to pre-selected investors. Buyers include Nvidia, AMD, Alphabet, Broadcom, Micron, Microsoft and TSMC, Arvopaperi reported. Together, the IPO and the private placement are worth up to $90.4 billion.

Kauppalehti said the price range corresponds to a market value of $1,260–1,410 billion when employee stock options are included. The paper said the offering would be the largest in stock market history; the previous record was set by SpaceX’s listing in the summer. SpaceX’s market value then rose to $1,770 billion, Gizmodo reported.

Banks consider raising the price

The banks running the listing are considering raising the price range because of strong demand, the Financial Times reported, citing five sources. Arvopaperi and Kauppalehti, citing the FT, reported that the valuation could then rise to $1,500 billion or more. Arvopaperi added that, based on the FT’s information, the amount raised in the IPO could exceed $100 billion. No new range has been published.

On 10 November, the board of Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC approved an investment of up to $500 million in Anthropic shares at the expected IPO price, AI Times reported. TSMC may invest the same amount in OpenAI preferred stock, Ars Technica reported, citing Reuters.

Anthropic and OpenAI buy hardware made by TSMC for their data centres, Ars Technica reported. Citing the Wall Street Journal, Ars Technica said analysts warn that mutual financing between investors, suppliers and customers makes it harder to gauge real demand for AI.

Anthropic is seeking a listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ANT, CNBC reported. The offering for Australian retail investors opened on Wednesday and closes on 17 November, according to broker Stake’s timetable. Retail investors can also buy shares directly in Japan, Canada and parts of Europe. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei and JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon will appear at a livestreamed investor event on Friday, Gizmodo reported.