Anthropic files for IPO as AI firms eye public markets

A wave of major artificial intelligence companies is moving toward the public markets, signaling a new, capital-intensive phase for the industry. On Monday, AI startup Anthropic announced it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering. The move follows a recent funding round that valued the company at $965 billion, positioning it as the world's most valuable AI startup.

Anthropic, the creator of the Claude AI models, is widely expected to be followed soon by its rival OpenAI, which was most recently valued at $852 billion. Separately, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which encompasses rocket manufacturing, satellite internet, and the xAI venture, has also announced plans for a stock market listing. Taken together, these would represent some of the largest public offerings ever.

The filings coincide with aggressive spending plans from established tech giants. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced plans to raise approximately $80 billion in equity to fund AI infrastructure investments, marking its first such offering in over two decades. Analysts described the collective activity as a...