Investors Bet on Valuation Doubling! Report: Anthropic Plans to Go Public at $2 Trillion Valuation, Potentially the Largest IPO in History

Anthropic is moving toward an unprecedented market milestone. Multiple investors expect that this AI startup will go public this fall with a valuation of $2 trillion or higher, surpassing SpaceX to become the largest IPO in history.

According to the Financial Times, six Anthropic shareholders told the media that the company's rapidly growing revenue will support a more than doubling of its existing valuation in the planned fall listing.

Investors expect that by the end of 2026, the annualized revenue of this Claude model maker will reach $100-120 billion, more than a tenfold increase from early 2026. If this expectation is realized, early investors in this five-year-old company would see billions of dollars in paper profits.

However, this record-setting IPO plan faces significant uncertainties: pressure from competitors is continuing to rise, and Anthropic’s relationship with the U.S. government remains tense.

According to two informed investors, export controls by the Department of Commerce on Anthropic's flagship models led to a slowdown in the company’s overall revenue growth in June. Public market sentiment toward the AI boom is also becoming more cautious, and whether the final pricing can support this valuation remains unknown.

The Logic Behind the $2 Trillion Valuation: High Revenue Growth as Core Support

The core reason Anthropic investors are betting on such a high valuation is the company’s extraordinary revenue growth.

Investors expect Anthropic’s annualized revenue to increase more than tenfold in 2026, reaching $100–120 billion. The company prefers to use annualized measurements—that is, extrapolating the recent performance to a full-year sales estimate.

“If Anthropic’s annual growth rate reaches 800%, you would think at a very low valuation multiple, they should be priced at least 30 times revenue,” one investor said. “That means a $3 trillion company.”

Currently, AI-beneficiary publicly listed companies—such as data intelligence company Palantir and cloud service provider Nebius—are trading at about 55 times sales this year. While there are no directly comparable U.S.-listed peers for Anthropic, investors have built their own financial models based on these, resulting in even higher valuation ranges.

In May, Anthropic announced its annualized revenue surpassed $47 billion and submitted its IPO filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June. It is currently in a quiet period, with public disclosures on financial performance restricted.

Surpassing OpenAI, but Tensions with the U.S. Government Remain

Anthropic has made significant progress in the competitive landscape this year. The company continues to lead in model performance, has launched a series of models surpassing competitors, and is focusing its business on enterprise client sales.

Venture capital firms, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors have injected nearly $100 billion into the company by 2026. In May, Anthropic’s valuation surpassed OpenAI for the first time, reaching $965 billion after accounting for the latest financing round.

Data from payment data company Ramp shows that Anthropic gained market share among U.S. enterprise clients last month.

However, challenges are also mounting. Anthropic has clashed several times with the Trump administration and remains embroiled in litigation with the U.S. Department of Defense—which listed Anthropic as a supply chain risk earlier this year.

In June, the Department of Commerce imposed export controls on Anthropic, forcing the temporary removal of its flagship models Fable 5 and Mythos 5—a move that unsettled customers relying on its products.

Cost Pressures and Competition Impact Pricing Range

Pricing is another major pressure point for Anthropic’s business model.

According to AI model analytics firm Artificial Analysis, the usage cost of Anthropic’s market-leading models is more than double that of OpenAI’s flagship models, while this year’s significantly improved open-source models cost only a fraction of that.

Enterprise clients have become increasingly sensitive to the cost of using the best models. Ramp analysts note that companies are “hitting AI spending caps” and turning to cheaper alternatives. Some businesses have even withdrawn previous orders for employees to maximize AI usage.

In response, an Anthropic investor who also holds shares in OpenAI and SpaceX said: “Of course it’s easy to list the challenges, but the company remains number one in performance, market position and the exposure users are seeking.” SpaceX went public at a valuation of $1.77 trillion in June this year.