Anthropic is preparing for a possible 2026 IPO

Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup famous for its “Claude” chatbot, has taken a decisive step toward going public. According to recent reports, Anthropic has enlisted law firm Wilson Sonsini to begin preparing for a potential public listing in 2026. People with knowledge of the matter told the outlet that the AI startup has begun preliminary talks with top investment banks about an IPO. The company has also recently gained momentum. By September, the company reported that its business customer count had exceeded 300,000 , compared to fewer than 1,000 two years ago. It added that its large accounts — worth at least $100,000 in annualized revenue — have increased by more than seven times in the last year. An IPO could provide Anthropic with a more efficient way to raise capital, broaden its access to public markets, and offer leverage for future acquisitions — especially as AI adoption surges and enterprise demand for large language models continues to increase. Anthropic appears to be signaling its seriousness to investors after hiring various experienced executives and initiating internal procedures aligned with those of public companies. Anthropic’s IPO could boost its valuation to $300 billion Discussions about a potential Anthropic IPO are still preliminary and informal, indicating that the firm is not yet close to selecting banks for the deal. The firm’s spokesperson had remarked, “It’s fairly standard practice for companies operating at our scale and revenue level to effectively operate as if they are publicly traded companies. We haven’t made any decisions about ​when or even whether to go public, and don’t have any news to share at ‌this time.” Nonetheless, people familiar with the matter believe the firm is working toward a private funding round that could lift its valuation above $300 billion. The company is also predicting a surge in its annualized revenue run rate, potentially reaching around $26 billion next year. Aside from Antropic, OpenAI is also laying plans for an IPO, with an estimated valuation of as much as $1 trillion, Reuters said. The company is expected to file with regulators in the second half of 2026. According to reports, the firm is reportedly eyeing a starting point of around $60 billion for the raise, although it is likely to be higher. However, sources have cautioned that the details have yet to be finalized and could shift depending on market trends and business momentum. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has signaled a 2027 listing timeline to some associates, though some advisers think a late-2026 listing is possible. The company’s spokesperson even noted, “An IPO is not our focus, so we could not possibly have set a date. We are building a durable business and advancing our mission so everyone benefits from AGI.” Insiders believe that the IPO would provide the firm with more efficient fundraising tools and a greater ability to make large acquisitions using its own stock — a crucial component for Altman’s massive AI infrastructure plans. Anthropic has acquired the startup Bun Anthropic recently confirmed it acquired Bun, marking its first acquisition. However, the terms of the deal are still private. In its press release, Anthropic portrayed Bun as an all-in-one solution—runtime, package manager, bundler, and test runner—that enhances the JavaScript and TypeScript developer experience by making it faster, more reliable, and more enjoyable. It argued that the two companies will work to make Bun the best runtime for JavaScript developers while improving workflow features in Claude Code. Mike Krieger, Chief Product Officer of Anthropic, noted, “Bun represents exactly the kind of technical excellence we want to bring into Anthropic. Jarred and his team rethought the entire JavaScript toolchain from first principles while remaining focused on real use cases.” Bun already boasts over 7 million monthly downloads, 82,000 GitHub stars, and adoption by companies such as Midjourney and Lovable, to improve workflow speed and productivity. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .