Anthropic logged net loss of over US$80 billion in first half of 2026, WSJ reports

Anthropic reported a net loss of more than US$80 billion (HK$624 billion) in the first half of 2026. The company also indicated that it might spend as much as US$750 billion in the coming years to secure more computing power. The Wall Street Journal reported this on Tuesday.

The loss was much larger than the US$13 billion loss reported a year earlier. According to the report, which cited a draft document prepared for Anthropic's planned initial public offering (IPO), US$72 billion of the loss came from accounting charges linked to changes in the value of financial instruments the company had issued to raise money.

These figures show how expensive the race to develop AI has become. At the same time, investors are taking a closer look at whether the money companies are spending on computer chips and data centers will bring enough returns.

Anthropic's revenue rose to US$16.3 billion in the six months ending June 30, up from US$1.1 billion a year earlier. Spending on AI infrastructure, including the systems needed to run AI, nearly quadrupled to almost US$9 billion, the Journal reported.

Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment, and Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

ANTHROPIC'S IPO VALUATION UNDER SCRUTINY

Reuters first reported in September that Anthropic had recorded a net loss of US$42 billion in 2025. That report was part of a series of exclusive stories based on the company's IPO prospectus, a document that provides details about a company before it sells shares to the public.

The company has benefited from the popularity of Claude Code, its AI coding assistant. Developers use the tool to write software and build apps.

However, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters that some current investors and people considering investing in Anthropic were thinking about valuing the company at a lower amount. They were reviewing the figures after attending the company's investor day last week.

Three of the four people said investors at the event in San Francisco discussed a valuation of about US$1.5 trillion. This was much lower than the roughly US$2 trillion valuation that had previously been expected for the share sale planned for November.

Anthropic told investors at the meeting that its revenue in the third quarter rose 45 percent to US$16.8 billion compared with the previous quarter. The company also said it had made a profit during the quarter after certain items were excluded from its calculations.

A less positive response to Anthropic's planned IPO could hurt the wider AI market. Investors believe the market's near-term outlook depends largely on whether the share sale succeeds. This comes before rival OpenAI may list its shares on the stock market next year.

Reuters