Anthropic’s IPO filing shows explosive growth, risks and staggering costs

Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic has filed papers for what could be the biggest ever initial public offering (IPO) of stock, even as its top executive warns that advanced AI could pose an existential threat to humanity.

The filing on Monday sets up the San Francisco company for a Wall Street debut next month, potentially eclipsing the SpaceX initial public offering in June that raised a record $86bn.

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The filing comes weeks after chief executive and cofounder Dario Amodei argued in an essay for slowing the development of the most advanced AI models. An IPO could provide Anthropic with enormous resources to accelerate its expansion. The amount the company ultimately raises remains uncertain, as does its final valuation and offering price. But even at lower estimates, it would turn the five-year-old startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies and potentially boost the wealth of Amodei and his sister and cofounder, Daniela, by billions of dollars.

The prospectus highlights the AI company’s rapid growth over the past year, fuelled by Big Tech’s breakneck spending that has driven a rally in AI stocks, while raising concerns about lofty valuations and rising debt.

The company also flagged growing risks from AI technology, underscoring concerns over its potential to cause harm, which had led Amodei to call for a slowdown in development of advanced models.

Anthropic’s net loss in the first half of 2026 widened sharply to $80.7bn, largely due to a rise in the fair value of bonds convertible into the company’s shares. Revenue in the period was about $16.3bn.

“Its success would not necessarily benefit every AI business equally,” he added.