Anthropic accelerates IPO plans with investor meetings as AI startup races OpenAI to market

Anthropic moves closer to mega-IPO as bankers line up investor meetings

Anthropic is lining up meetings with investors ahead of a potential initial public offering later this year, a person with knowledge of the plans told CNBC. Bankers leading the offering are scheduling meetings between prospective investors and executives of the artificial intelligence firm behind the popular Claude models, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the process. The meetings suggest Anthropic's IPO preparations are advancing, as bankers begin sounding out investor demand before a formal roadshow and eventual share sale. Anthropic confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, but hasn't disclosed when it plans to debut. The giant AI startup could hit the public markets as soon as October, though the timing could change, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the investor meetings. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment. An Anthropic listing would build on momentum from June's massive SpaceX IPO and further open the public markets to companies at the center of the AI boom. It follows years in which the industry's biggest names remained private while raising hundreds of billions of dollars from investors. Anthropic appears poised to beat rival OpenAI to the public markets, which could be an advantage for the startup if AI enthusiasm later wanes. OpenAI also confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC in June, but it has not disclosed any additional details.

Anthropic schedules investor meetings ahead of potential IPO

Anthropic is arranging meetings between its executives and prospective investors as the artificial intelligence company moves closer to a potential initial public offering, according to CNBC. Goldman Sachs $GS, Morgan Stanley $MS, and JPMorgan $JPM Chase are leading the IPO effort, with bankers gauging how much appetite exists among investors before a roadshow and share sale take place. The company is targeting a debut as soon as October, though the timing could still change. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment. Anthropic's preparations reflect a broader resurgence in the IPO market driven by enthusiasm for AI-related companies. According to Bloomberg data, listings so far this year have brought in $227.5 billion -- a total that, when blank-check firms and similar vehicles are stripped out, stands as the highest annual haul since 2021. An Anthropic debut would leave rival OpenAI in its wake; OpenAI had once aimed for a fall 2026 listing but has since pushed that timeline back to 2027. Both companies have filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Anthropic submitted its confidential IPO prospectus to the SEC last month. At the time, the company said the filing "gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review," adding that the offering would depend on market conditions. No share count or price range has been disclosed. Anthropic's May funding round, worth $65 billion, placed the company's valuation at $965 billion -- for the first time putting it ahead of OpenAI's $852 billion figure. The company has seen rapid revenue growth, fueled in part by demand for Claude Code, its AI coding assistant. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI researchers and executives. The potential listing would follow SpaceX's IPO in June, which CNBC described as massive, and a U.S. listing last week by memory chipmaker SK Hynix, both of which were tied to AI infrastructure demand. Anthropic also faces uncertainty stemming from its relationship with the Trump administration, which placed temporary foreign access restrictions on two of its models. Bloomberg also noted that Anthropic had taken the Defense Department to court after the agency characterized the company as a threat to the domestic supply chain.

Anthropic Follows SpaceX Playbook, Claude-Parent Reportedly Pursuing Multibillion-Dollar Credit Lines Ahe

Anthropic is reportedly working with major banks to expand its borrowing capacity as the artificial intelligence startup gears up for a potential public listing later this year. OpenAI Rival Anthropic Reportedly Seeks Fresh Bank Credit For IPO The report said the new financing would increase the company's existing $2.5 billion five-year revolving credit facility, obtained from lenders last year. Anthropic did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. A revolving credit facility gives companies access to funds that can be borrowed, repaid and borrowed again as needed, providing financial flexibility without requiring immediate use of the full amount. Expanding credit facilities before an IPO is a common move for companies preparing to enter public markets. The same banks that extend these credit lines often serve as underwriters for the share sale. Anthropic Accelerates IPO Plans As October Debut Looms The report comes as Anthropic appears to be accelerating preparations for an IPO. Earlier Wednesday, it was reported that the AI startup had begun high-level meetings with investors and could debut on the public markets as soon as October. In May, Anthropic surpassed OpenAI to become the world's most valuable startup after raising $65 billion in its Series H funding round, which valued the company at $965 billion. Meanwhile, rival OpenAI is also targeting a trillion-dollar IPO, though recent reports suggest its public listing could be delayed until 2027. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo Courtesy: gguy on Shutterstock.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Anthropic, OpenAI Are Making Other AI Bets Feel Like Second Prize

Anthropic is meeting with investors ahead of a potential blockbuster IPO as it prepares to capitalize on strong demand for AI listings. Banks leading the offering are arranging investor meetings in the coming weeks, as the company is reportedly targeting an IPO as early as October, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The Claude maker has hired Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group, and JPMorgan Chase to work on the IPO process. However, details regarding the IPO are ongoing and subject to change. Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, Anthropic has quickly established itself as a key player in artificial intelligence, building tools that are reshaping how businesses approach areas like coding and cybersecurity. Advisers reportedly presented Altman with two options: wait until 2027 to reach the trillion-dollar mark, or settle for a smaller number and list in 2026. Altman reportedly called any reduction a "non-starter." Meanwhile, Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which develops large language models, is also preparing for an IPO debut, potentially as early as this year, sources told Bloomberg. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Anthropic just made a move that changes the AI investing story

The AI boom has been one of the biggest investing stories of the past few years. Nvidia became one of the most valuable companies on earth. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon poured hundreds of billions into infrastructure. But the companies actually building the models at the center of it all have stayed private, leaving most investors on the outside looking in. Anthropic, the company behind Claude, is about to change that. Bankers are now lining up investor meetings ahead of a potential October IPO, and the process is far enough along that this is no longer a rumor. The company behind one of the most widely used AI models in the world is preparing to go public, and the numbers it's bringing to market are striking. What Anthropic's IPO preparation actually looks like right now Anthropic filed its draft registration statement with the SEC on June 1, 2026. The filing was confidential, meaning the prospectus isn't public yet. Since then, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase have been brought in as lead underwriters, according to CNBC. Those are Wall Street's three largest banks by revenue. The fact that all three are on the deal signals this is being treated as a major market event. Bankers are now setting up meetings between Anthropic executives and prospective institutional investors. Think of it as the AI company going on a listening tour before it actually asks anyone to write a check. The banks want to know what price range the market will support, what questions investors have, and whether demand is sufficient to pull off a deal this big. October is the target date, though that could change, depending on what they hear and how the SEC review of the confidential filing goes. Wilson Sonsini, the law firm that managed Google's 2004 IPO, is handling Anthropic's public market readiness. That's not a random choice. It's a signal about ambition. The numbers behind Anthropic's near-trillion dollar valuation Anthropic closed a $65 billion Series H funding round in May 2026 at a post-money valuation of $965 billion, according to Investing.com. That pushed it above OpenAI's valuation for the first time. It also put the company within range of becoming the first AI model developer to cross a trillion dollars in value before going public. The revenue numbers are hard to wrap your head around. Anthropic's annualized revenue was around $9 billion at the end of 2025. By April it was $30 billion. By late May, the company said it had crossed $47 billion. That's the same company, six months later, with five times the revenue run rate. The growth came from enterprises piling into Claude and from Claude Code, the company's agentic coding tool, which had already hit $2.5 billion in its own annualized revenue by February. Why Anthropic is racing to beat OpenAI to the public markets OpenAI also filed a confidential S-1 in late May 2026. It has Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and JPMorgan working on its deal. But OpenAI has since pushed its IPO target from fall 2026 to 2027, according to CNBC. That gives Anthropic a window to be first. Being first matters for two reasons. The company that goes public first sets the valuation benchmark for the sector. And if AI enthusiasm fades later in the cycle, being first means accessing institutional capital before sentiment shifts. Kalshi prediction markets put Anthropic's probability of listing before OpenAI at 72%. SpaceX's June IPO is the comparison point everyone is watching. It was the first blockbuster AI-adjacent listing of the year. If Anthropic prices well and the stock holds, it could open the window for the biggest wave of AI IPOs since the technology emerged into mainstream consciousness. The risks that will face Anthropic as a public company The story isn't clean. Anthropic is spending $1.25 billion per month on computing capacity through a deal with SpaceX, which runs through May 2029, according to The Next Web. That's an annualized infrastructure commitment of $15 billion from a single supplier. Total compute spending in 2026 is estimated at roughly $19 billion. At $47 billion in annualized revenue with gross margins around 40%, the path to sustained profitability is real but not immediate. The company doesn't expect to be profitable until 2028. There's also a revenue accounting question. Analysts have flagged that the $47 billion annualized figure may include committed contract value that hasn't been recognized as revenue yet, the Under the Market Lens Substack noted. That distinction matters to public market investors, who will be valuing the company on actual revenue, not on what contracts say could come in. The Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk earlier this year, the BBC reported. That hasn't killed its enterprise momentum, but it's an overhang that public investors will want management to address directly in the prospectus and on roadshow calls. What Anthropic's IPO means for AI investors and the broader market The IPO market has already had its strongest year since 2021. Companies have raised $227.5 billion globally through listings this year, excluding SPACs, according to CNBC. Anthropic at $60 billion would be one of the largest raises in history. For investors who have wanted direct exposure to the AI model layer, this is the first real opportunity at scale. Nvidia gives you the chips. Microsoft and Google give you the platforms. Anthropic would give you the model company itself, the one building the AI that enterprise clients are increasingly choosing over the alternatives. Whether the market will pay a premium valuation for a company still burning cash at scale is the central question. The investor meetings happening right now are the first real test. What institutional buyers tell those bankers over the next few weeks will determine whether October becomes a milestone for AI investing, or a story about what the public market wasn't quite ready for. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc. This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 12:47 PM.

Anthropic starts IPO investor meetings, CNBC reports By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Anthropic is arranging meetings with investors as it prepares for a possible initial public offering later this year, according to a CNBC report Wednesday. Bankers managing the offering are scheduling meetings between potential investors and executives of the artificial intelligence company, which develops the Claude models, the report said. Access breaking news faster with institutional-grade feeds on InvestingPro -- now 60% off. The meetings indicate that Anthropic's IPO preparations are moving forward as bankers assess investor interest before a formal roadshow and share sale. The company filed its IPO prospectus confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month but has not announced a debut date. The AI startup could go public as soon as October, though the timeline may shift, Bloomberg reported. Anthropic looks poised to reach the public markets ahead of competitor OpenAI. OpenAI also filed confidentially for an IPO with the SEC in June but has not provided further details. Anthropic, founded in 2021, completed a $65 billion funding round at a $965 billion valuation in May. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are working on the IPO planning.