The Decoder and Seeking Alpha reported the Financial Times story on 7 November. By then, tech stocks had fallen sharply after the US midterm elections. The FT cited several investors.

The Claude developer plans to raise $80–100 billion at a valuation of $1.25–1.75 trillion, The Decoder reported, citing the FT. The range is above the company’s current valuation of $965 billion but below the $2 trillion the most optimistic investors had hoped for. Some investors expect about $1.3 trillion, Seeking Alpha reported.

Tech Insider checked the FT article and found neither the fundraising amount nor the valuation range in it. The site said the FT had earlier reported a $1.5 trillion target. Mint reported that Anthropic was expected to raise as much as $100 billion, which would be the largest IPO in history. The record is the $86 billion SpaceX raised in June.

Annualised revenue at the current sales rate is about $81 billion, up from about $65 billion at the end of July, The Decoder reported. Seeking Alpha said Anthropic expects to raise enough that it will not need a further share issue.

Other publications report lower figures

Potential investors are discussing a valuation of $1.2–1.3 trillion, and some have considered as little as $1.1 trillion, Bloomberg reported, as cited by Tech Insider. Bloomberg said no final decisions had been made, and an Anthropic representative did not comment.

In a Wall Street Journal article published by Mint, three major investors said the previously expected $1.5 trillion valuation would likely have to come down. One said it could end up closer to $1 trillion. Another wondered whether Anthropic might postpone the offering. One option is to raise less money than expected, the WSJ reported. The company had $146.6 billion in cash at the end of September.

Sources differ on the timetable. WION and Bloomberg reported that the roadshow, in which the company presents the offering to investors, could start next week. However, Reuters sources cited by Mint on 6 November said investors doubted whether the roadshow could start on time. It had originally been expected to begin in the week starting 9 November, with pricing the following week. Anthropic intends to list in the week starting 16 November, the WSJ reported, as cited by Mint. Investors are also waiting for October revenue, which Anthropic did not disclose in its updated S-1 prospectus, Reuters’ sources said.

Stock market fall accelerated after the midterms

Rising borrowing costs and large AI investment plans triggered the fall, The Decoder reported. The Democrats’ victory in the midterms accelerated it, as the party had promised, among other things, to slow data centre construction. The Nasdaq 100 fell 6.4 per cent on Thursday and recovered slightly on Friday. Companies in the Nasdaq Composite lost $2.5 trillion in market value on Thursday, the WSJ reported.

OpenAI has also scaled back its goals. It has received $11 billion in its funding round at a $1.25 trillion valuation, against a target of $30 billion, the WSJ reported. Its valuation target was originally $1.4 trillion, The Decoder said.