Dario Amodei, Anthropic\u2019s chief executive, roiled Wall Street and Silicon Valley recently when he called for more guardrails on the pace of artificial intelligence development.<\/p>\n
But even as Dr. Amodei became embroiled in a contentious A.I. safety debate, his company \u2014 which makes the Claude chatbot \u2014 continued to prepare for a blockbuster initial public offering that may shape up to be the biggest listing ever.<\/p>\n
The company is expected to reach more than $100 billion in annualized revenue by the end of this year, according to four people familiar with the matter. That\u2019s up from $65 billion in annualized revenue as of July. Investors seeking to get a piece of the I.P.O. are using those soaring numbers to justify Anthropic\u2019s staggering potential valuation of $2 trillion.<\/p>\n
The A.I. lab could publicly release financial documents detailing its offering as soon as in the coming weeks, which could put it on track for its shares to start trading as soon as November, said two people with knowledge of the situation who, like others quoted in this article, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential plans.<\/p>\n
The people stressed that the plans could still change. The timing of I.P.O.s are always subject to change because of factors like shifting investor sentiment and market volatility.<\/p>\n
That is particularly the case for a company that is a leading force in an unpredictable industry in which many executives, including its own leader, are increasingly warning about sizable risks.<\/p>\n
That the giant I.P.O. is plowing ahead highlights a broader tension surrounding A.I.: Despite worldly concerns about the technology\u2019s disruptive powers, the returns these companies promise to investors are enormously tantalizing.<\/p>\n
Going public could give Anthropic quick access to capital to help fund its large financial needs, in particular the substantial computing costs necessary to build and run its A.I. models.<\/p>\n
Investors expect the company to have about five gigawatts\u2019 worth of compute<\/a> \u2014 the industry term for computing power \u2014 available to use by the end of the year, and would roughly double that capacity by the end of next year, according to three people familiar with the figures. That would put it on par with its rival OpenAI.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Anthropic hosted about 100 investors from venture capital firms at its San Francisco headquarters to discuss its technology offerings in a customer event, according to two people familiar with the event.<\/p>\n Jared Kaplan and Ben Mann, two of Anthropic\u2019s co-founders, and Boris Cherny, the head of Claude Code, made presentations alongside Andrej Karpathy, a researcher and co-founder of OpenAI who joined Anthropic this year, the people said.<\/p>\n Anthropic\u2019s bankers and its executives, including Dr. Amodei and its chief financial officer, Krishna Rao, have also met with potential investors in the I.P.O. in recent weeks. The company has taken meetings with those who are willing to write large checks, or are pre-existing investors in Anthropic, four people familiar with the discussions said.<\/p>\n Some smaller investors are hoping to invest at the I.P.O. but haven\u2019t yet managed to obtain an audience with management, these people say.<\/p>\n In some of these meetings, the company has pointed to the positive aspects of artificial intelligence, including its research into biology and potential to cure diseases, according to three people familiar with the pitch.<\/p>\n When asked about the potential threat from China offering cheaper open-weight<\/a> A.I. models \u2014 which publicly provide the underlying calculations of their systems \u2014 Anthropic has downplayed the competition. The company has told investors that only a small portion of businesses rely on such models, one person familiar said. <\/p>\n Several investors also said they believe Anthropic can expand its business even if it slows certain A.I. development, as Dr. Amodei recently called for. That\u2019s because the company generates a majority of its revenue selling Claude to business customers, who are still early in their adoption of the technology.<\/p>\n Still, bankers and lawyers say Anthropic is wading through largely uncharted territory with its I.P.O.<\/p>\n Dr. Amodei\u2019s safety warnings raise questions about potential liabilities for the company if, for example, a rogue agent leads to litigation. (These risks are not generally insured.) Dr. Amodei called for the development slowdown shortly after a former Anthropic researcher warned the chance that A.I. could make humans extinct within a decade was greater than 10 percent, creating more cosmic concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cMy experience is, it\u2019s a bit like political risk, investors just kind of get their arms around it and just deal with it,\u201d said Craig Coben, a former global head of equity capital markets at Bank of America. <\/p>\n Anthropic\u2019s I.P.O. also raises questions about whether Dr. Amodei can ensure the safety of advanced A.I. models and withstand the pressures of running a publicly traded company that is subject to the whims of public investors clamoring for growth.<\/p>\n Some Anthropic investors argue that as a public company, it can achieve those goals simultaneously.<\/p>\n \u201cAnthropic will IPO,\u201d wrote Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital on social media<\/a> on Sept. 12. He added, \u201cAnd its beneficial \/ critical that we bring even more transparency, scrutiny, accountability, & participation to these grt American companies!\u201d<\/p>\n As a public company, Anthropic would provide insights into its business, most notably its financials. It would also spread the wealth it generates beyond a handful of private shareholders, potentially giving more of the country a direct stake in the success and safety of A.I.<\/p>\n There may be limits to that transparency, said Jesse Fried, a law professor at Harvard Law School, who has studied Anthropic\u2019s governance. Anthropic would still be able to keep some data \u2014 like what is transpiring in its lab \u2014 confidential.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re worried about, like, agents emerging from the testing dungeons of Anthropic and taking over the world, it doesn\u2019t really help,\u201d Mr. Fried said.<\/p>\n OpenAI is taking a different approach. Last week, its chief executive, Sam Altman, said the company was putting off its public listing until 2027. The company had already been weighing a 2027 listing<\/a> as it shores up its finances and tries for a $1 trillion valuation. (It is in talks to privately raise<\/a> funds at a $1.5 trillion valuation.)<\/p>\n