Anthropic is pressing forward with plans to go public in 2026, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, despite a recent sharp sell-off on the Nasdaq and broader uncertainty in financial markets.
The AI company plans to set a valuation range this week and begin trading on Thursday or Friday of the following week, the Journal reported. The news was published November 10, 2026.
The key players in the story are Anthropic, its prospective investors, and rival AI company OpenAI, which serves as a benchmark for how the market values AI firms. No specific executives were named in connection with the IPO plans.
Investor sentiment appears to be cooling on Anthropic’s price tag. Some institutional investors are now pushing for a valuation below the $1.5 trillion target discussed as recently as last week — a figure that was itself down from the $2 trillion floated a few months earlier.
The timing is notable. The IPO push comes shortly after one of Nasdaq’s biggest sell-offs and amid reports that a CEO central to the AI boom had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy — factors the Journal acknowledged but said have not deterred Anthropic from proceeding.
For context on the competitive landscape, OpenAI — Anthropic’s main rival — was reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion last week after raising $11 billion in fresh capital, falling short of the $20 billion it had initially sought.
Anthropic’s IPO could serve as a key indicator of investor confidence in the AI sector. The valuation it ultimately achieves may signal how much appetite remains for AI companies at premium price points, given the recent downward pressure on figures that were significantly higher just months ago.
Source: TechCrunch