Anthropic Delays IPO Marketing to Mid-October as Valuation Eyes $2 Trillion

Anthropic, the maker of Claude, is a public benefit corporation that created its Long-Term Benefit Trust in September 2023 to protect its mission of developing AI for humanity’s long-term benefit. The trust has no economic stake but can appoint or remove a majority of the board. A flotation valuing Anthropic at as much as $2 trillion would expose that unusual balance between shareholder returns and AI safety to public-market scrutiny.

As of Sept. 4, 2026, Anthropic was close to awarding Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs leading roles in its IPO and could publicly file paperwork as soon as the following week. Morgan Stanley was in pole position for the “lead left” role after holding investor discussions on pricing, while Goldman Sachs was expected to act as stabilization agent. JPMorgan, Citigroup and Barclays were also set for prominent mandates, though the final lineup could still change.

Anthropic, a leading generative artificial intelligence startup, is competing with OpenAI and other developers for enterprise and consumer customers. A large revolving credit facility would give the company additional flexibility to fund operations and expansion. Such arrangements are also commonly finalized before a company formally appoints banks to underwrite an initial public offering, making the proposed increase a significant signal of Anthropic’s capital-markets preparations.

Anthropic plans to expand its revolving credit facility fivefold, to $15 billion from $2.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. The company is stepping up preparations for a potentially massive IPO whose fundraising target could match or surpass the record associated with SpaceX. Anthropic has not disclosed a formal listing date or named underwriting banks, leaving the transaction’s timing and final size subject to further negotiations and market conditions.

Anthropic, the developer of the Claude family of artificial-intelligence models, has emerged as one of OpenAI’s most closely watched rivals. Rapid adoption by corporate customers has strengthened the company’s revenue outlook and investor appetite. A listing at a valuation of as much as $2 trillion could eclipse SpaceX and become the largest initial public offering on record, underscoring Wall Street’s enthusiasm for generative AI.

Anthropic began preparations for an IPO in 2026 and could move ahead as early as the autumn. Second-quarter revenue increased fourteenfold and the company turned profitable, while annualized revenue climbed to $65 billion. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Anthropic’s internal projections put its long-term potential revenue above $30 trillion, an exceptionally bullish estimate helping support investor expectations for a record valuation.

Anthropic, developer of the prominent Claude AI model, has seen its secondary-market valuation surge 550% this year to $1.2 trillion, overtaking OpenAI and drawing intense market attention. With demand for its shares far outstripping supply, the frenzy has reportedly prompted some investors to sell their homes to buy stock and fueled gray-market trading, forcing the company to issue a warning. The activity underscores the powerful pull that leading AI unicorns exert on capital amid the global artificial intelligence boom.

Bloomberg reported that Anthropic could go public as early as October this year. Three major investment banks are actively arranging meetings between investors and the company's senior executives, while an investor meeting is reportedly set to take place soon. The developments suggest that the company's listing plan, with a valuation closing in on $1 trillion, has entered its final stages. The market is closely watching whether Anthropic can complete the listing in October.

OpenAI is evaluating an initial public offering, but Chief Executive Sam Altman reportedly insists the company must be valued at $1 trillion, an unusually high threshold for the technology sector. The enormous cost of training generative AI models, computing infrastructure and data centers means the timing of the listing will shape investor assessments of AI valuations and the industry’s ability to sustain funding.

The latest reports indicate that OpenAI, facing its valuation demand and continued heavy cash burn, is leaning toward delaying its IPO until 2027. Rival Anthropic has filed for a listing and could go public as early as 2026, potentially establishing the first pricing benchmark for AI companies. The White House is also stepping up its review of OpenAI’s next-generation GPT-5.6 model, adding regulatory uncertainty.

Founded by former OpenAI employees, Anthropic focuses on its Claude models and enterprise generative AI. Its “Computer Use” feature demonstrates how AI agents can operate computers. The company is competing with OpenAI for enterprise customers, computing capacity and talent, while its listing plans are also seen as an important test of capital-market appetite for high-cost AI business models.

Recent reports say Anthropic has confidentially filed an S-1 and selected Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead the offering, with a listing possible as early as October 2026. Early reports put its valuation at about $380 billion and said it planned to raise more than $60 billion. Subsequent reports said the valuation first rose to $800 billion and could now reach $965 billion, closing in on $1 trillion.

Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI researchers in 2021 and is best known for Claude. Continued funding and cloud-computing support from Google and Amazon underscore the chips, data centers and vast amounts of capital needed to train frontier models. That backing has also made Anthropic a major competitor in the generative AI market.

As of July 2026, reports said Anthropic had completed a $65 billion Series H funding round at a post-money valuation of $965 billion, higher than OpenAI's. Samsung, SK hynix and Micron participated as strategic investors. The new capital will fund model development and computing infrastructure, with Anthropic's valuation closing in on $1 trillion.

Founded by former OpenAI researchers in 2021, Anthropic focuses on its Claude models and enterprise AI. Claude Code has brought generative AI into software development and become a major revenue driver. The company’s refusal to allow its AI to be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons has put it at odds with the U.S. Department of Defense, with implications for government procurement and AI safety rules.

A March 3, 2026 report showed Anthropic’s annualized revenue had surpassed $19 billion, more than double the $9 billion recorded at the end of 2025 and up from about $14 billion just weeks earlier. The company completed a $30 billion Series G funding round on February 12 at a post-money valuation of $380 billion. The Pentagon formally designated Anthropic a supply-chain risk on March 5, but Claude added more than 1 million users per day that week.