We're getting an idea of how much Anthropic stock will be available for retail investors

• Anthropic could set aside 15% to 20% of its shares for everyday investors at its IPO price next month.

• If 20% of the shares are set aside, that would match the amount SpaceX offered to everyday investors.

• Anthropic's much-anticipated stock market debut is expected sometime next month.

Anthropic's S-1 filing did not say much about how many shares everyday investors might be able to buy when the company first sells its stock to the public. But new information suggests the AI company could follow SpaceX's example and set aside as much as 20% of its shares for individual investors who trade stocks themselves.

Since the company behind Claude released its S-1 filing on Monday, investors have been studying the numbers. However, one sentence in the filing may have been disappointing for individual investors hoping to buy shares:

"The representatives may agree to allocate a number of shares of our Class A common stock to underwriters for sale to their online brokerage account holders."

In simple terms, some everyday investors might get a chance to buy shares at the IPO price. Others might have to wait until the stock starts trading on the open market, where everyone can buy and sell shares.

But a Bloomberg report on Wednesday said Anthropic has chosen JPMorgan to lead the part of its IPO aimed at individual investors. That offering could set aside 15% to 20% of the company's shares for everyday traders to buy at the IPO price.

If Anthropic sets aside 20% of its shares, it would be following SpaceX's example. SpaceX first said it planned to reserve 30% of its shares for individual investors, but it reduced that percentage as its IPO date got closer.

A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to give more details about the exact percentage of shares that would be offered. The spokesperson also would not say whether the shares would mainly go to wealthy clients or be made available more widely through online brokerages.

Shay Baloor, chief market strategist at Futurum Equities, told Business Insider that the possible allocation was surprising. Companies usually set aside only 5% to 10% of their IPO shares for individual investors.

He also pointed to how SpaceX reached out to everyday investors, saying this became an important part of its hugely successful IPO.

"We just saw SpaceX attract more than $100B in retail demand so there's clearly an appetite for these massive tech IPOs," he said. "I think Anthropic is recognizing that individual investors can become an important source of capital rather than simply participating once shares begin trading publicly."

Individual investors have expressed mixed feelings about buying Anthropic shares when they begin trading next month. However, some investors might be more interested if they can buy shares at the IPO price. They may expect the stock price to jump once public trading begins.

Still, some people are not convinced that buying Anthropic shares is a good idea.

Ed Zitron, an independent technology researcher who often criticizes the AI industry, has been unimpressed by Anthropic's financial results released in recent weeks. The plan to offer individual investors a large number of IPO shares did not change his view.

"While some of this is fairly standard, the sheer speed at which insiders and shareholders can exit this company is remarkable, purpose-built to allow insiders to use retail investors to financialize their early bets in a company that's been drained of any opportunity or value," Zitron wrote on Wednesday. He was referring to Anthropic's unusually complicated share lockup schedule, which sets rules for when company insiders and other shareholders can sell their shares. Under these rules, some shareholders who already own shares could sell them on the first day of public trading.

Harrison Rolfes, a senior research analyst at PitchBook, also questioned whether Anthropic could attract enough interest from individual investors. He said the company does not have the same following among day traders that Elon Musk has.

"Individual money is less sensitive to price, and a book that leans on it lets the banks price the deal higher than institutions alone would support," he told Business Insider.