Anthropic IPO Faces Investor Pushback Over $1.5 Trillion Valuation

Anthropic’s anticipated initial public offering is facing resistance from major investors who question whether the artificial intelligence company can justify an expected $1.5 trillion valuation. According to The Wall Street Journal, three large investors planning to participate in the offering believe the price needs to come down, with one suggesting a valuation closer to $1 trillion.

The disagreement could force Anthropic and its advisers to reconsider the size and timing of what is expected to be one of the largest technology listings in history.

Investors question the proposed valuation

The Wall Street Journal reported on November 6 that three major prospective investors were skeptical about Anthropic achieving the expected $1.5 trillion valuation.

One investor suggested the company could be worth closer to $1 trillion. Another raised the possibility of postponing the listing until market conditions improve or pursuing a smaller fundraising round.

The concerns come amid a broader deterioration in sentiment toward artificial intelligence investments. A significant technology stock selloff has made investors more cautious about committing capital at valuations that were considered achievable during the recent AI investment boom.

Anthropic has been preparing for a public listing before Thanksgiving, with expectations of raising between $80 billion and $100 billion. However, those figures represent reported expectations rather than a finalized offering price or confirmed fundraising commitment.

The investor disagreements highlight a difficult question for the company: whether to prioritize the highest possible valuation or secure a successful listing under less favorable market conditions.

Revenue growth comes with substantial losses

Anthropic’s financial disclosures provide important context for the valuation debate.

The company’s amended IPO filing reported approximately $17 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2026. However, it also recorded a net loss of approximately $23.29 billion during the same three-month period.

According to the Associated Press, Anthropic generated $33.2 billion in revenue during the first nine months of 2026, representing approximately 13 times the revenue reported during the comparable period a year earlier.

The filing also disclosed substantial infrastructure commitments. Anthropic reported approximately $895.4 billion in commitments for AI computing and infrastructure, including $70 billion due over the following 12 months.

The figures demonstrate the extraordinary scale of the company’s expansion while highlighting the capital requirements associated with developing and operating frontier AI systems.

The reported net loss also requires some accounting context. The nine-month loss included a substantial accounting adjustment related to financing agreements, rather than representing an equivalent amount of ordinary operating expenditure.

OpenAI provides another valuation benchmark

Anthropic’s potential listing is unfolding alongside a major financing transaction involving its principal AI competitor, OpenAI.

Reuters reported on November 6 that OpenAI had secured $11 billion in new funding at a $1.25 trillion valuation. The funding represents an initial portion of a larger financing round that originally targeted as much as $30 billion.

Reuters reported that SoftBank and MGX participated in the financing.

The comparison is notable because both companies are seeking to attract substantial investment while public-market sentiment toward AI businesses has become more cautious.

Anthropic’s proposed valuation would place it above OpenAI’s reported current financing valuation, despite the fact that Anthropic’s eventual IPO pricing remains undetermined.

For investors, the central issue is whether exceptional revenue growth and the commercial potential of Claude justify the capital requirements and valuations being discussed.

A critical test for AI markets

Anthropic’s IPO could become an important test of institutional demand for large artificial intelligence businesses.

A valuation closer to $1 trillion would still represent an enormous public-market debut, but would be materially below the $1.5 trillion expectation discussed by investors.

The company and its advisers must balance fundraising ambitions against the risk of setting an offering price that institutional investors are unwilling to support.

No final valuation, fundraising amount or listing price has been confirmed in the cited reporting. The coming discussions between Anthropic executives, advisers and prospective investors will help determine whether the company proceeds on its original timetable or adjusts its expectations.

Source

This report is not legal, financial, or health advice. See the disclaimer.