Investors in artificial intelligence company Anthropic are reconsidering its expected valuation ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO), with some discussing a figure of about $1.5 trillion, according to Reuters.
The valuation under consideration is significantly below the roughly $2 trillion previously anticipated for the company’s planned November share sale. The change reflects concerns about slowing revenue growth and the mounting cost of developing and operating advanced artificial intelligence systems.
According to people familiar with the discussions, some investors raised the lower valuation during a meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday. Four people familiar with the matter said existing shareholders and prospective investors were reassessing the company’s financial outlook following its latest disclosures.
At the meeting, Anthropic reported that third-quarter revenue increased by 45 per cent to $16.8 billion from the previous quarter. The company also disclosed that it recorded an adjusted profit during the period.
However, the latest growth rate was considerably lower than the previous quarter’s performance, when revenue more than doubled to $11.6 billion. The slowdown has raised questions about whether Anthropic can sustain its expansion while meeting the substantial costs associated with AI development and computing infrastructure.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company’s anticipated IPO is attracting considerable attention because its performance could influence investor confidence across the wider artificial intelligence industry. A weaker reception could also affect expectations for a potential public listing by rival OpenAI next year.
The valuation debate comes as technology stocks face renewed pressure from concerns about the cost of financing AI infrastructure. Chipmakers, data centre operators and cloud computing providers have all come under scrutiny as companies commit increasingly large sums to support AI development.
Shares and bonds of CoreWeave, a cloud computing company backed by Nvidia, declined on Thursday as investors grew more cautious about the industry’s reliance on borrowing to finance infrastructure expansion.
The concerns extend beyond Anthropic, with investors questioning whether the enormous sums being invested in artificial intelligence will generate sufficient revenue and profits. A disappointing IPO could intensify scrutiny of the sector’s business models and future growth prospects.
The wider IPO market has also faced setbacks. Data centre operator SB Energy postponed its planned listing last month, while nuclear technology company Holtec Nuclear withdrew its plans to go public.
Wednesday’s meeting at Anthropic’s San Francisco headquarters brought together major investors, Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei and Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao. The Information had previously reported that investors were considering a lower valuation for the company.
Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives, including Dario Amodei and his sister Daniela Amodei, Anthropic has become a major developer of generative artificial intelligence through its Claude family of models.
The company has received substantial financial and infrastructure support from Alphabet’s Google and Amazon. Both technology giants are backing Anthropic while competing to strengthen their positions in the rapidly expanding AI market.
Despite its strong revenue growth, Anthropic faces significant financial commitments. Reuters reported in September that the company generated nearly $4.6 billion in revenue in 2025, representing a twelvefold increase from the previous year. However, its operating losses exceeded $8 billion, excluding certain write-downs largely associated with earlier fundraising activities.
Anthropic’s IPO prospectus also outlined its expectation that artificial intelligence could transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialisation, electricity and the internet.
The document reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025, highlighting the financial challenges accompanying the company’s expansion and investment plans.
According to the prospectus, Anthropic expects to spend at least $518 billion over the coming decade on cloud services, computing capacity and infrastructure. These commitments underscore the scale of investment required to support its ambitions and add to investor scrutiny of its long-term financial outlook.
The discussions over a lower valuation do not establish the final price of Anthropic’s IPO. However, they indicate that some investors are becoming more cautious about the company’s growth trajectory, costs and ability to justify its previously anticipated market value.
Goodness Anunobi
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