Anthropic prepares billion-dollar IPO amid AI firms delaying stock market debut

Anthropic intends to keep its capital opening plans in November despite a financial instability scenario that has led other AI-linked companies to postpone or suspend their stock market debuts. The move places the developer of Claude models at the center of investor attention and transforms its initial public offering of shares into a test of market appetite for the sector.

According to Reuters information published on Thursday (22), the company is working on the possibility of releasing its prospectus at the end of October and beginning the presentation of shares to potential investors during the week of November 9. People familiar with the matter emphasized, however, that the schedule may still change.

The operation could value Anthropic at up to US$ 1.5 trillion (about R$ 8.1 trillion). The figure reflects investor interest in participating in AI growth, but also shows the size of expectations placed on a company that still needs to demonstrate how it will sustain its expansion in a more restrictive financial environment.

AI infrastructure firms are backing off

While Anthropic advances with preparations, companies that operate the infrastructure necessary to develop and run AI systems are revising their plans for entering the stock market.

The data center operator Switch and the AI infrastructure provider Nscale postponed their IPOs to a later date this year. In the case of Nscale, part of the delay is related to the need to address questions from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) team.

SB Energy, backed by SoftBank, also postponed its listing. Meanwhile, AirTrunk REIT, backed by Blackstone, and Firmus, which has the support of Nvidia, withdrew or suspended their offerings, according to Reuters.

The movement occurs amid rising interest rates and market volatility, factors that make it difficult to obtain valuations considered attractive for new stock offerings. The pressure also affected AI infrastructure firms such as CoreWeave, whose shares and bonds experienced a strong wave of sales.

Investors question AI costs

The Anthropic IPO will be a test for the sector

The offering of Anthropic also gains importance because other companies may depend on market reception to define the timing of their own stock market debuts.

The recent capital opening of Oura, according to a source heard by Reuters, had limited participation from institutional investors with long-term strategies. The episode raised doubts about the depth of demand for shares of new technology companies.

In this context, the performance of Anthropic's offering will help indicate how far investors are willing to accept high valuations for AI-linked companies, even amid high interest rates and increased pressure on sector costs.

Interest in the company therefore coexists with a more selective environment. The challenge will be to turn expectations into an offering capable of attracting capital without ignoring the uncertainties that have already led other AI companies to reconsider their plans.

Rodrigo Mozelli is a journalist graduated from Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (UMESP) and currently writes for Olhar Digital.