Anthropic lost over $80 billion in first half of 2026, on track to spend $750 billion for computing capacity: Report
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup behind Claude, reported a net loss of more than $80 billion in the first half of 2026. The Wall Street Journal reported this after reviewing Anthropic’s S-1 form, which the company filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before its planned initial public offering (IPO), or first sale of shares to the public. The report also said Anthropic indicated that it could spend as much as $750 billion over the coming years to secure more computing capacity.
What changed for Anthropic?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Anthropic’s net loss rose from $13 billion in the same period a year earlier. The increase was driven by $72 billion in accounting charges linked to changes in the value of financial instruments the company had issued to raise money.
The figures show how expensive the AI race has become. At the same time, investors are looking more closely at whether the huge amounts of money being spent on computer chips and data centers will bring enough returns.
Anthropic’s revenue rose to $16.3 billion in the six months ending June 30, compared with $1.1 billion in the same period a year earlier. Spending on AI infrastructure, including the systems needed to run AI, nearly quadrupled to almost $9 billion, according to the report.
Anthropic still seeks a $2 trillion valuation
In September, Reuters reported that Anthropic had recorded a net loss of $42 billion in 2025. This was part of a series of exclusive reports based on the company’s IPO prospectus, a document that gives investors information about its finances and plans.
Anthropic was founded in 2021 and had planned to begin selling its shares on the stock market this month. However, in September, the AI startup delayed its planned IPO until November. It was still seeking to raise $100 billion at a valuation of $2 trillion.
However, Reuters reported that some existing investors and people considering investing in Anthropic were thinking about valuing the company at a lower amount after seeing its latest financial information. They attended an investor day hosted by Anthropic earlier this month.
Three people said those investors discussed a valuation of around $1.5 trillion at the event in San Francisco. That would be a significant drop from the roughly $2 trillion valuation previously expected for the planned November share sale.
Anthropic told investors at the meeting that its revenue in the third quarter rose 45% to $16.8 billion from the previous quarter. The company also said it made a profit during the quarter when measured using an adjusted calculation that excludes certain costs.
Safety concerns and opposition to data centers challenge AI companies
Anthropic’s IPO delay came as concerns about AI safety grew around the world. There was also increasing opposition to AI technology and the data centers that support it.
In recent months, Anthropic and its main rival, OpenAI, have made global headlines for negative reasons. These included reports of AI agents acting on their own and gaining unauthorized access to websites and government databases.
Amid growing opposition, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in September that companies developing AI models should “slow down.” He pointed to the risks created by the fast pace of AI development. Several other major figures in the industry have since expressed similar views, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, xAI’s Elon Musk, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
(With inputs from agencies)