Anthropic’s IPO filing is the start of the put-up-or-shut-up era of AI

Tech’s worst-kept secret is finally out: Anthropic has filed its S-1 with the SEC, paving the way for an IPO and a reported investor roadshow beginning as soon as November 9 in an attempt to drum up interest befitting its targeted $1.5 trillion valuation. In doing so, the company has opened its books, giving would-be investors their first look at its finances. And the numbers are eye-popping. The company booked an $80.7 billion net loss on $16.3 billion in revenue, but operating losses are falling. Around 250 customers pay the firm more than $10 million a year in contracts, while more than 10,000 pay at least $100,000. Its net revenue retention stands at around 900%. And every employee contributes $6.6 million to the company’s revenue, the kinds of numbers that any company would envy. However, the S-1 filing also reveals plenty of potential problems ahead. Between five and seven cents of every dollar Anthropic receives from customers comes from users the company doesn’t want on its platform and presumably intends to remove because they violate its terms of service or usage policies. Almost half of Anthropic’s revenue in the first six months of the year came through cloud marketpla…

≈