Anthropic plans an IPO as early as 2026, FT reports

Dec 2 (Reuters) – Anthropic, the artificial intelligence startup backed by Alphabet's Google and Amazon.com, has hired the law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for an initial public offering that could take place as early as 2026, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Wilson Sonsini and Anthropic did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for a comment. An IPO would give the company a more efficient way to raise capital and provide leverage for bigger acquisitions through public stock. The move comes as AI adoption gains pace, driven by higher enterprise tech spending and growing investor appetite. Claude maker Anthropic could be prepared to list in 2026, according to the report. The AI startup has also discussed with major investment banks about a potential IPO, the newspaper said, citing people with knowledge of the discussions. The FT report said, however, that the talks are in early stages and informal, indicating the company is still far from selecting its IPO underwriters. "It's fairly standard practice for companies operating at our scale and revenue level to effectively operate as if they are publicly traded companies," an Anthropic spokesperson told FT. "We haven't made any decisions about when or even whether to go public, and don't have any news to share at this time." Anthropic is negotiating a private funding round that could give the AI startup a valuation exceeding $300 billion, the report said. Microsoft-backed OpenAI is preparing for what could rank among the largest initial public offerings ever, with a potential valuation of up to $1 trillion. The company is laying the groundwork to go public and may file with securities regulators as early as the second half of 2026, Reuters has reported. However, OpenAI's chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, said in November that an IPO is not in the startup's near-term plans. (Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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