Anthropic files for IPO at $965B valuation, defends AI ROI
Revenue surged to $47B but $1.25B/month spent on xAI compute.
Anthropic has taken a major step toward going public, filing confidentially for an IPO. At the Bloomberg Tech conference, co-founder Daniela Amodei explained the move as driven by capital needs for training and inference of frontier models. The company’s staggering growth—annualized revenue of $47 billion, up from $9 billion in late 2025—has attracted investors, with the recent $65 billion fundraise at a $965 billion valuation being oversubscribed. Amodei acknowledged concerns about AI returns, citing Uber’s mixed experience, but argued that businesses are still early in deployment. She sees continued value in coding, financial services, legal, and healthcare, with more potential as familiarity grows.
On compute strategy, Amodei said Anthropic prefers not to overextend by building its own data centers, instead partnering with xAI at a cost of $1.25 billion per month. This cautious approach ensures demand exceeds supply rather than wasting resources. The IPO filing signals Anthropic’s confidence in sustained growth, though the sector faces scrutiny over ROI. With public markets offering deeper capital pools, Anthropic aims to fund its next phase while managing the risks of rapid scaling.
- Anthropic confidentially filed for IPO at a $965 billion valuation after a $65B fundraise.
- Annualized revenue hit $47B in May 2025, up from $9B at end of 2025.
- Anthropic pays xAI $1.25B per month for compute instead of building its own data centers.
Why It Matters
Anthropic's IPO signals the AI industry's insatiable need for capital and the pressure to prove returns.