Factbox-Anthropic moves closer to blockbuster listing with US IPO filing

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Anthropic took the wraps off its US initial public offering filing on Monday, bringing the Claude maker a step closer to a landmark debut that is set to test investor appetite for the rapidly growing AI industry.

The listing would represent what is expected to be one of the largest debuts ever ​attempted, potentially reshaping benchmark indexes, investor flows and the broader narrative driving US equities.

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ANTHROPIC

By unveiling its hotly anticipated US IPO filing, AI lab Anthropic took a crucial step towards a potential roadshow launch.

The filing confirmed a series of Reuters exclusives that offered an early peek at its contents before Anthropic made it public, including details of its financial performance, growth trajectory and IPO plans.

Some current and prospective investors are valuing Anthropic at about $1.5 trillion, down from roughly $2 trillion that investors had previously expected after the AI startup disclosed some financial details at a recent investor event.

The IPO has already been pushed back from earlier plans, with Reuters previously reporting that marketing was expected to begin in mid-October at the ​earliest.

The AI heavyweight is seeking to raise as much as $100 billion in the IPO, Reuters has reported.

Anthropic, which had revealed in June that it confidentially filed for a US IPO, raised $65 billion at a post-money valuation of $965 billion in late ​May.

OPENAI

OpenAI, which operates AI chatbot ChatGPT, revealed in June that it had confidentially filed for a ​US IPO.

The company will not go public in 2026, CEO Sam Altman had said in September, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence that render "unacceptable" even a 10% risk that AI could cause human extinction by decade's end.

OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments before rival Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November, in an unusually fast fundraising that could value the ChatGPT maker at over $1.4 trillion, Reuters has reported.

In May, OpenAI fended off an existential court challenge from Elon Musk, simplifying the path for it to proceed with a stock market listing.

"We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it's a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best," OpenAI had said in June.

SPACEX

Elon Musk's rocket and satellite maker SpaceX made its historic stock market debut on the Nasdaq in June, shattering records and eclipsing Saudi Aramco's 2019 listing by a wide margin to become the largest IPO ever.

The IPO upended traditions with its record $75 billion listing, breaking away from the normal IPO process by setting the price before meetings with investors at a roadshow, which Wall Street always uses to test demand ‌and set a price range.

At $75 billion, the IPO's proceeds were more than double those of Saudi Aramco's record-setting 2019 IPO.

SpaceX shares ended their first day of trading at $160.95 per share to bring its value to $2.1 trillion. The stock has since lost some of its momentum and closed at $147.49 on October 23, 9.3% above the $135 IPO price.

(Compiled by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Maju Samuel and Shilpi Majumdar)