NYC Comptroller calls for Anthropic to put IPO on hold over safety concerns

Anthropic ANTHROPIC should delay its initial public offering so the company can fully address AI safety, governance, and the pace of development, according to New York City's comptroller.

"I write to urge Anthropic to pause its planned initial public offering IPO until the company can fully and transparently address the artificial intelligence AI safety, governance, and development pace concerns it has raised," NYC Comptroller Mark Levine wrote in a letter to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Wednesday. "Instead of proceeding headlong with its IPO, the company should focus its energies on addressing these unprecedented risks."

The push from the NYC comptroller comes as Anthropic ANTHROPIC prepares for a potential IPO as soon as next month. Anthropic reportedly told investors on Wednesday that its third-quarter revenue stands at $16.8 billion.

The artificial intelligence giant, which makes the Claude chatbot, could aim to raise more than $100 billion in a public listing, its bankers have said, as per reports. That could value Anthropic at $2 trillion.

Anthropic ANTHROPIC competitor OpenAI OPENAI has already reportedly put its IPO on hold.

"The first step has to be to ensure that these two companies get their safety under control," Levine said in an interview earlier Thursday on CNBC. "Dario and his leadership and their own S-1 acknowledges that they have not succeeded on that yet. They have work to do."

The comptroller looks after NYC's fiscal health and oversees public pension funds with more than $325 billion in assets.

"I see no reason to rush into this," Levine added. "They should slow down, focus on safety, and go public when they can ensure investors."