Anthropic posts $80bn loss as IPO valuation faces pressure
Anthropic reported a net loss of more than $80 billion in the first half of 2026, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by Al Jazeera. Most of the loss came from accounting charges linked to changes in the value of financial instruments.
Anthropic reported a net loss of more than $80 billion in the first half of 2026, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by Al Jazeera. Investors are looking closely at the artificial intelligence company as it prepares to sell shares to the public for the first time. Most of the reported loss came from accounting charges linked to changes in the value of financial instruments used to raise money.
The company's revenue rose to $16.3 billion in the six months ending June 30, while spending on AI infrastructure nearly quadrupled to almost $9 billion, the Journal reported. These figures show how expensive it is to expand computing capacity as Anthropic gets ready to sell shares.
The loss was more than $80 billion. Anthropic did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment. The report was based on information that was not public, and its details could not be independently confirmed right away.
Accounting charges caused most of the loss
The Wall Street Journal reported that $72 billion of the loss came from accounting charges. These charges were linked to changes in the value of convertible notes and other financial instruments that Anthropic had issued to raise money. A draft document prepared for the planned share sale showed a loss of $13 billion a year earlier.
These reported financial results do not mean Anthropic spent that amount of cash during the period. The charges came from changes in the estimated value of financial instruments. The company reported its spending on infrastructure separately. This difference matters because investors are trying to understand how much it costs to pay for the computing power needed to develop and run AI products.
Anthropic also indicated that it could spend up to $750 billion in the coming years to obtain more computing capacity, the Journal reported. Possible deals were being discussed, but the report did not name the parties involved.
Investors reconsider the planned IPO value
Four people familiar with the matter told Reuters that some current and potential investors who attended Anthropic's investor day in San Francisco last week were considering a lower company valuation after the latest financial details became known.
Three of these people said investors discussed a value of about $1.5 trillion at the event. This was lower than the roughly $2 trillion valuation previously expected for the planned share sale in November, according to Reuters.
The information in the draft share-sale document also showed that revenue growth came with rising costs. Anthropic's revenue increased from $1.1 billion a year earlier to $16.3 billion in the six months ending June 30. The Journal reported that spending on AI infrastructure rose to almost $9 billion during the same period.
This spending matters not only to investors considering buying shares. The large amount of computing power Anthropic plans to purchase could affect how quickly it expands the systems behind Claude and its other AI services. The sources did not explain how the possible deals would be arranged or how much of the planned spending would become a firm commitment.
Anthropic has benefited from the popularity of Claude Code, an AI coding assistant that developers use to write software and build apps, Al Jazeera reported. In its draft share-sale document, the company also listed possible risks. These included uncertainty about how to stop its products from causing harm through advanced cyberattacks or blackmail carried out by AI models that are no longer under control.
Reuters had previously reported that Anthropic recorded a net loss of $42 billion in 2025 in connection with its reporting on the company's planned IPO document. Last week, Anthropic reported that AI could be only months away from learning to copy itself on everyday home devices, according to Al Jazeera.
Source: aljazeera.com