Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic booked a staggering $80.7 billion net loss in the first half of 2026 — mostly from accounting charges — as it warned that growing opposition to data centers could threaten its business.
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opposition → book → business
The San Francisco-based company, which is preparing for a blockbuster IPO that could value it at as much as $2 trillion, voiced caution about the growing movement of anti-data center and anti-AI voters.
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that → base → voters
The company, led by CEO Dario Amodei, said its high public profile “may draw particular attention to projects associated with us.”
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profile → lead → us
Anthropic said most of its data center capacity is located in the US, although it has signed letters of intent to develop additional facilities overseas.
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it → say → facilities
Domestically, recent months have seen public opinion souring on AI and protests opposing data center construction.
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opinion → see → construction
Lior Prosor, a partner at Deep33 Ventures, downplayed the likelihood that the backlash would derail Anthropic’s IPO or impede its near-term growth.
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backlash → downplay → growth
I don’t think so,” Prosor told The Post, explaining that data centers only now entering the permitting process wouldn’t be operational before the second half of 2028.
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centers → think → 2028
He nevertheless acknowledged that regulatory obstacles could become a more serious problem over the long term.
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obstacles → acknowledge → term
Anthropic said it has sought more computing capacity than its major cloud partners were willing to provide.
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partners → say → capacity
The company faces more than $600 billion in future cloud computing and chip-leasing costs, with deals under negotiation that could add another $150 billion, the Journal reported.
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Journal → face → billion
Prosor said Anthropic is “certainly taking meaningful risks” with its enormous computing commitments, even as surging demand for artificial intelligence has rewarded companies that secured capacity early.
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that → say → capacity
He argued that Anthropic should “raise as much capital as possible” to weather potential setbacks as the market matures.
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market → argue → setbacks
“This is not going to be straight up and to the right forever,” Prosor warned.
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Prosor → go → right
The first-half loss, up from $13 billion a year earlier, included roughly $72 billion in accounting charges tied to changes in the value of convertible notes and other financing instruments, according to the report.
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loss → include → report
The $72 billion reflected changes in the value of convertible notes and other fundraising instruments.
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billion → reflect → notes
Meanwhile, the siblings running Anthropic earned less in total compensation last year than the median CEO of an S&P 500 technology company, according to pay data cited by the Journal.
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siblings → run → Journal
Dario Amodei and his sister, company president Daniela Amodei, each drew a base salary of roughly $655,000 in 2025.
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Amodei → draw → 2025
But the siblings aren’t exactly struggling.
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siblings → struggle → ?
Stock and option awards boosted Dario’s total compensation to about $18 million last year, while Daniela’s pay package was valued at roughly $16.5 million, according to the filing.
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package → boost → filing
Their pay packages were roughly in line with median CEO compensation across the S&P 500, but fell short of the median for the index’s technology companies, according to MyLogIQ data cited by the Journal.
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packages → fall → Journal
The siblings could also receive more equity if certain milestones are reached, the draft prospectus shows.
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prospectus → receive → equity
Anthropic’s co-founders have each pledged 80% of their stakes to philanthropy, while the company separately plans to commit 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund announced Sunday.
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company → pledge → fund
Meanwhile, revenue surged to $16.3 billion in the first half of 2026, up from $1.1 billion a year earlier.
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revenue → surge → billion
Over the same stretch, computing and infrastructure expenses jumped to nearly $9 billion from $2.3 billion.
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expenses → jump → billion
Anthropic also warned that its business remains heavily dependent on a handful of large clients, with just two customers accounting for roughly one-fifth of its first-half revenue.
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customers → warn → revenue
The company expects a “significant portion” of sales to continue coming from a “limited number of customers for the foreseeable future,” according to the prospectus.
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portion → expect → prospectus
Anthropic declined to comment to the Journal on the disclosures, which come as the AI giant prepares to tap public investors to help finance its ambitious expansion.
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giant → decline → expansion
The Aporia
