Anthropic Files Confidentially for IPO as Amodei Defends AI Returns
June 5, 2026
Anthropic has taken its first formal step toward a public listing.
On June 1, 2026, the AI model maker said it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO).
The move came just days after Anthropic announced a $65 billion funding round. Speaking at a Bloomberg event, co-founder Daniela Amodei framed the rationale around access to capital and brushed aside doubts about whether AI spending will pay off.
Anthropic’s Confidential S-1 Submission
In its June 1 announcement, Anthropic said it had confidentially filed a draft of the Form S-1 registration statement with the SEC.
In its official statement, the company said the step “gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review,” adding that any IPO “will depend on market conditions and other factors” and that the number of shares and the price “have not yet been set.”
A confidential filing lets a company begin SEC review early without publicly disclosing its financials.
According to Anthropic’s own announcements, the submission followed a $65 billion funding round that valued Anthropic at $965 billion, a raise several investors described to TechCrunch as heavily oversubscribed.
Growth Figures and Doubts About AI Returns
Anthropic has been expanding quickly. Anthropic says its annualized revenue run rate crossed $47 billion in May, sharply higher than the roughly $9 billion reported at the end of 2025.
That trajectory faces a test. Uber has noted that while AI can deliver returns, not all of its AI spending has proven productive, raising the prospect that companies could rein in budgets.
Amodei appeared unfazed, arguing that businesses are still early in learning how to deploy AI well. She said major enterprise use cases, including coding, financial services, legal work and health care, are likely to keep driving efficiency and creativity as companies become more familiar with AI tools.
On the choice to go public, she pointed to cost: “It’s a really big upfront cost to train the models and to serve inference on them,” and said public markets are well suited to that demand.
Why Anthropic Isn’t Building Its Own Data Centers
Amodei also explained why Anthropic, unlike OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, has not built its own data centers. The company prefers not to overextend by buying more compute than it can productively use, she said, and would rather have slightly more demand than it can serve than the reverse.
Meanwhile, to secure compute, the company announced last month that it would use the computing power of SpaceX’s Colossus 1 facility through a deal with SpaceX. According to TechCrunch, details of the arrangement were disclosed in SpaceX’s prospectus, with Anthropic paying SpaceX $1.25 billion per month.
OpenAI is reportedly preparing its own confidential filing. Reports note that Anthropic’s $965 billion valuation tops the roughly $852 billion attributed to OpenAI in its most recent private round.
What to Watch Next
The key questions are whether Anthropic proceeds to an actual listing after the SEC review and when that might happen. The share count and price are not yet set, and the company says any IPO depends on market conditions.
Anthropic’s latest valuation and run-rate revenue can be confirmed through the company’s own announcements, but its detailed profit-and-loss and cash-flow figures have not yet been disclosed. More detailed financial information may emerge as the listing process advances.
With OpenAI also in the IPO pipeline, the broader funding race among AI leaders is worth watching.
Sources
Anthropic – Anthropic confidentially submits draft S-1 to the SEC
TechCrunch – Ahead of its IPO, Anthropic’s Daniela Amodei shrugs off doubts about AI’s returns
Fortune – Anthropic confidentially files for IPO at a $965 billion valuation
Anthropic – Anthropic raises $65B in Series H funding at $965B post-money valuation
Reuters – OpenAI aiming for speedy IPO, source says, as market awaits SpaceX filing
Reuters – Anthropic moves toward IPO, stepping up race with OpenAI
TechCrunch – Google will pay SpaceX $920M per month for compute
Reuters – SpaceX lands Google AI compute deal after Anthropic pact ahead of IPO
