Anthropic's IPO filing shows off soaring revenues as the company warns of AI's 'risks to humanity'
Anthropic warned that AI could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity" if it is not "developed, deployed, and operated with appropriate safeguards, oversight, and security measures."
On Monday, the US company Anthropic gave the public a look at its remarkable finances when it filed an S-1 registration document ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO), which is when a company first sells shares to the public.
The artificial intelligence company reported a sharp rise in revenue and high costs while warning about the dangers of AI.
The IPO will be an important test of how much investors want to put money into an industry that has become more controversial and quickly become part of everyday life.
The filing showed that Anthropic's net losses reached $80.7 billion in the first half of 2026, while its revenue rose to about $16.3 billion during the same period.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that an IPO could bring Anthropic, the company behind Claude, as much as $100 billion. The company could be valued at more than $1.5 trillion. Anthropic was valued at $965 billion in May.
"We believe that AI is one of the most consequential technologies in human history," the company said in its S-1 filing. "If managed well, it could rapidly accelerate scientific innovation, greatly increase economic growth rates, bring cures for major diseases within reach, and solve problems that have resisted generations of human effort."
However, Anthropic also warned about the dangers of its technology. It said AI could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity" if it is not "developed, deployed, and operated with appropriate safeguards, oversight, and security measures."
The company also said, "The political environment and our engagement with policymakers and public positions on AI regulation and safety could subject us to heightened scrutiny, political backlash, or disproportionate regulatory action." In other words, its political environment and views on AI rules and safety could lead to closer examination, political opposition or unusually strict government action.
Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at New York University and a strong critic of the AI industry, accused Anthropic of trying to "skirt the truth" in its filing by leaving out certain figures.
"Anthropic ducked Q3 in its S-1," he wrote in a post on X. "That omission tells you all you need. Demand has drop, economics haven’t gotten worse. And a company that is allegedly built around trust is trying to skirt the truth."
Earlier this month, Anthropic reportedly told investors that its revenue in the third quarter of 2026 had reached $16.8 billion, up from $11.6 billion in the second quarter.