Anthropic's IPO filing reveals bold AI vision and $42 billion loss

Anthropic has filed for an IPO, betting that AI will transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity, or the internet, according to its prospectus seen by Reuters. The company reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025 and plans to spend $518 billion on cloud and infrastructure obligations. Revenue grew 12-fold in 2025 to nearly $4.6 billion, though operating losses exceeded $8 billion excluding liability writedowns. The public sale could value the five-year-old startup at over $2 trillion, establishing a benchmark for how Wall Street values leading AI companies like rival OpenAI. Anthropic faces concerns from its own research on autonomous AI risks, including harmful behaviors in controlled tests. CEO Dario Amodei has urged slowing capability releases, yet the company launched Opus 5.5 last week. The IPO is expected after November's US midterm elections, following SpaceX's recent blockbuster listing.