Anthropic reportedly plans IPO up to $100B

Anthropic's move to go public comes after SpaceX's record IPO in June, which raised nearly $86 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation. Anthropic reportedly aims to raise up to $100 billion at a valuation as high as $2 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. The company's registration statement will be the first extensive financial disclosure from a pure-play LLM company, offering unprecedented insight into the economics of large language models.

Anthropic's reported Q2 revenue of $11.6 billion (doubled year-over-year) and positive adjusted operating income suggest it is financially healthier than some peers, but investors will scrutinize adjustments and the path to long-term profitability. The company is also reportedly targeting a $30 trillion total addressable market, but such figures have drawn skepticism, especially given potential competition from open-source models that might be more cost-efficient.

The outcome of Anthropic's IPO could set a precedent for other LLM companies like OpenAI, whose financials leaked earlier this year. If investors are not impressed, it might hinder future LLM IPOs. However, given Anthropic's strong financial position, it might ease concerns and pave the way for others.