Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI model, is poised to become the first AI developer to go public, with predictions it could achieve a $1 trillion valuation. The company has registered to sell shares in the US, placing it ahead of rivals OpenAI and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the race to the stock market.
Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei, Anthropic has positioned itself as a safety-first AI lab. It states on its website: “We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole.” However, it is currently in a legal dispute with the Pentagon over national security concerns, after being designated a “supply-chain risk”.
Private investors have already shown strong support, with Anthropic raising $65 billion in a recent funding round that valued the company at $965 billion. This leapfrogged OpenAI, which was last valued at $852 billion. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is also seeking to raise $80 billion for AI investment, with a market value of $4.5 trillion.
Despite the enthusiasm, some analysts warn of a potential bubble, comparing the AI frenzy to the Dutch tulip mania of the 17th century. They argue that investors are driven by fear of missing out rather than rational assessment of value. A crash in public markets could have widespread consequences, affecting pension funds and individual savings.
