Anthropic revenue jumps 45 per cent as it eyes a $2 trillion IPO

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MUMBAI: Anthropic’s numbers are learning to speak for themselves, and the conversation is getting expensive. The artificial intelligence company behind Claude has reportedly posted third-quarter revenue of $16.8 billion, a 45 per cent jump from $11.6 billion in the second quarter, as it prepares for a potential initial public offering that could value it at more than $2 trillion.

The figures were shared with prospective investors at a meeting at the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the presentation. Anthropic also reported adjusted profitability for the second consecutive quarter and an adjusted gross margin of 85 per cent. The company has yet to publicly release its IPO prospectus, which is expected to provide a fuller picture of its financial performance, costs and liabilities.

The revenue trajectory has been steep. Anthropic reported $4.7 billion in the first quarter, followed by $11.6 billion in the second and $16.8 billion in the third. That growth underlines the commercial momentum behind generative AI, as businesses increasingly turn to advanced models for coding, research, productivity and other applications.

But there is a distinction between strong revenue and the bottom line. Anthropic’s reported adjusted profitability does not establish that it is profitable after accounting for all expenses. Its 85 per cent adjusted gross margin reflects revenue after certain direct costs, rather than the full cost of developing, training and operating AI systems.

That distinction matters in an industry where the computing bill can be enormous. Anthropic has committed hundreds of billions of dollars in future spending through long-term agreements covering cloud services, computing capacity and infrastructure, according to earlier reporting. Chips, data centres and cloud services are essential to training and running increasingly capable models, making infrastructure spending a major factor in determining whether rapid revenue growth can translate into sustainable returns.

The company’s forthcoming prospectus is expected to shed more light on the relationship between its revenue, operating expenditure and long-term infrastructure commitments. Until those disclosures are available, the reported margin offers only part of the financial picture.

The proposed listing could be equally consequential for public markets. Anthropic is reportedly targeting a valuation above $2 trillion, with bankers discussing the possibility of raising more than $100 billion through the offering. If achieved, the deal would rank among the largest public listings in history and test investor appetite for AI businesses with substantial computing requirements.

The timing remains subject to market conditions. Earlier reporting has suggested that Anthropic could go public after the US midterm elections in November. Higher interest rates have weighed on IPO activity, while questions over the scale of AI infrastructure investment have prompted investors to scrutinise whether the sector’s growth can justify its expanding financial commitments.

The listing could also influence expectations for rival OpenAI, which is pursuing a public-market debut of its own. For investors, Anthropic’s disclosures may offer a clearer view of how major AI developers are converting demand for their models into revenue and what it costs to keep that growth going.

Founded by former OpenAI executives, Anthropic has built its business around the Claude family of AI models. Alphabet’s Google and Amazon are among its key investors and computing partners, even as they compete in the broader AI market.

The company has also made AI safety central to its approach. Its research has identified potentially concerning behaviour by AI agents in test environments, including incidents involving sensitive information and code sabotage. Anthropic has said it has not observed evidence of such misalignment in real-world deployments.

For now, the reported figures offer a striking snapshot of Anthropic’s expansion, but the $2 trillion question is whether its growth can support the valuation once investors see the complete accounts. Its prospectus will be crucial in showing how much of the AI boom is translating into durable profits and how much is being reinvested in the infrastructure needed to sustain it.