Anthropic IPO to test the first 'pure play' AI stock in a choppy market
Anthropic started as a niche AI research lab in 2021.
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Anthropic → test → 2021
Now, its IPO could be one of the biggest ever
Anthropic's stock market debut is set to be big — a big valuation, big spending, big warnings, big uncertainty for investors and a big potential indicator of how the recently volatile artificial intelligence sector will fare in 2027.
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sector → set → 2027
In an amended U.S. regulatory filing Tuesday, San Francisco-based Anthropic set an expected initial public offering (IPO) price range of $70 US to $78 US per share.
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Anthropic → amend → share
That implies a fully diluted market valuation of roughly $1.3 trillion US at the midpoint, climbing to $1.4 trillion US at the top end, marking the largest technology stock market debut on record.
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That → imply → record
"It's going to be one of the biggest IPOs in history," said Greg Taylor, portfolio manager at Vancouver-based PenderFund Capital Management.
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Taylor → go → Management
The size of an IPO is typically measured by the amount of capital raised.
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size → measure → capital
Anthropic is aiming to raise up to $64.4 billion US directly through its public share offering.
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Anthropic → aim → offering
If that happens, it will rank behind only SpaceX's record-setting stock market launch in June.
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it → happen → June
Taylor expects Anthropic shares will start trading before America celebrates Thanksgiving, on Nov. 26.
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America → expect → Nov.
Wealthsimple, the popular Canadian financial trading app, lists an expected "IPO day" of Nov. 30.
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Wealthsimple → list → Nov.
Ernest Wong, head of research at Toronto-based Baskin Wealth Management, anticipates the stock will be a serious heavyweight when it starts trading on the Nasdaq exchange.
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it → base → exchange
"There are only a handful of stocks in the world that are valued over $1 trillion US," he said.
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he → be → US
"It speaks to how big AI really is.
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AI → speak → ?
Anthropic started as a niche AI research lab in 2021, when its founders left rival OpenAI because they felt it was too focused on profits, ignoring risks and giving too much control to investors.
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it → start → investors
The company gained momentum in 2024, when it released Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
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it → gain → Sonnet
This version beat OpenAI's GPT-4o on major performance benchmarks at a fraction of the cost of previous frontier AI models.
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version → beat → models
OpenAI scraps release of new AI model over safety concerns
BMO, CIBC, RBC, TD Bank block personal AI agents, citing safety and security
- FRONT BURNER
Will Anthropic's IPO go boom or bust?
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IPO → scrap → safety
It's organized as a public benefit corporation, meaning its board has a legal mandate to balance public safety against maximizing shareholder returns.
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board → organize → returns
Today, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei is a leading advocate for AI safety, arguing the industry should slow development to let safety measures catch up.
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measures → lead → development
In Anthropic's recent regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 94 of more than 300 pages were dedicated to spelling out a long list of risk factors.
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94 → dedicate → factors
"Our AI models may behave in unintended, misaligned, or autonomous ways, including by taking harmful actions that no user or third party directed," the company stated.
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company → behave → that
Anthropic says this may include, "behavior resembling blackmail or efforts to influence human decision-makers to preserve the model's continued operation," as well as actions that "pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.
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that → say → humanity
"
Big numbers
$1.4 trillion US is not the only eyebrow-raising figure associated with Anthropic's IPO.
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US → raise → IPO
The company's valuation has fluctuated wildly in recent months.
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valuation → fluctuate → months
In late May, private investors valued the company at $965 billion US, up from $380 billion US in February.
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investors → value → February
"There's a fairly big degree of optimism baked into these valuations as they're coming out," Taylor said.
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Taylor → be → valuations
"I don't think anyone can tell you what Anthropic is gonna look like five years out."
Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2025.
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Amodei → think → January
According to regulatory filings, Anthropic earned more than three and a half times as much revenue in the first six months of 2026 as it did in the entire previous calendar year.
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it → accord → year
Roughly 20 per cent of those sales came from two big unnamed customers.
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cent → come → customers
At the same time, the AI giant has been spilling a lot of red ink.
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giant → spill → ink
It booked a $80.7 billion US net loss this year through June, although this was mainly due to non-cash accounting charges.
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this → book → charges
The company lost $42 billion US in 2025.
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company → lose → 2025
Anthropic also has big spending plans.
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Anthropic → have → plans
The company does not build or own physical data centres.
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company → build → centres
Instead, it rents high-performance computing power from cloud providers like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud through massive multi-year service contracts.
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it → rent → contracts
According to regulatory filings, Anthropic has locked in nearly $900 billion US in cloud and computing deals that run through the 2030s and 2040s.
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that → accord → 2030s
Partners in these deals include Broadcom, SpaceX AI, Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure.
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Partners → include → Broadcom
"Buying the Anthropic IPO is one of the first pure play AI investments out there," Taylor said.
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Taylor → buy → investments
Until now, investors looking to own a piece of the artificial intelligence boom have been mainly limited to far less AI-focused technology stocks such as Microsoft or Nvidia, which makes chips.
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which → look → chips
Google, for example, is widely-considered part of the AI investment theme.
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Google → consider → theme
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
