Valuation Surpasses SpaceX
Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI model, is preparing for an initial public offering with a valuation ambition that exceeds that of Elon Musk's SpaceX. According to a prospectus reviewed by Reuters, the company is targeting a public-market valuation of more than $2 trillion. This figure is significantly higher than the estimated $965 billion valuation Anthropic achieved in May when it raised $65 billion.
The potential listing marks a significant shift in the AI sector, moving from private venture capital and sovereign wealth funding to public markets. It also establishes a new benchmark for valuing other frontier AI companies, such as competitor OpenAI.
Financial Performance and Losses
While the valuation is eye-catching, the financial statements reveal the immense capital intensity of frontier AI development. Anthropic reported a net loss of nearly $42 billion in 2025. However, approximately $34 billion of this loss stems from accounting charges related to the increased estimated value of financing convertible into shares, rather than direct cash expenditures.
The company’s operating loss was still substantial, exceeding $8 billion, even as revenue grew 12-fold to nearly $4.6 billion in 2025. Infrastructure costs were a major driver of expenses, with $7.33 billion spent on computing and infrastructure in 2025—three times the 2024 figure. This accounted for more than half of the company's total operating expenses of $12.65 billion.
Despite holding $20.28 billion in cash and short-term investments as of December 31, Anthropic faces a massive future liability. The company expects to have $518 billion in cloud, computing, and infrastructure obligations in the coming years. Additionally, the filing highlights customer concentration risks, noting that nearly a quarter of 2025 revenue came from just two customers, many of whom are not bound by long-term contracts.
AI Safety and Risk Disclosures
A distinctive feature of the prospectus is the extensive focus on the risks associated with the technology itself. Roughly 80 of the 261 pages in the main body are devoted to risk factors, nearly double the space allocated to describing the business.
Anthropic warns that increasingly advanced AI could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity." The filing details potential dangers, including models developing unexpected capabilities during training, such as "self-preserving behaviors," attempts to "resist shutdown," or actions resembling "blackmail."
This stance aligns with CEO Dario Amodei's public calls to "pace the frontier" of AI development. However, the filing also notes that a continuous cadence of model releases is inherent to remaining competitive, creating a tension between safety and speed. Only about 6% of computing power used for AI research was allocated to safety work during a sample week in July, highlighting the resource-intensive nature of these efforts.