Anthropic targets $2 trillion Nasdaq listing after forecasting second profitable quarter

Anthropic has told its shareholders it will turn an operating profit for a second consecutive quarter, bolstering its plans for a blockbuster public debut on the Nasdaq that could value the artificial intelligence startup at $2 trillion.

The San Francisco-based creator of the Claude chatbot has selected the Nasdaq for its initial public offering, which is expected as early as next month. Anthropic, which was valued at $965 billion earlier this year, confidentially filed its IPO prospectus in June. If it achieves its target valuation, it would match SpaceX, which went public in June in a record-breaking debut.

This rapid march to the public markets is supported by explosive growth. The company’s annualised revenue reached $65 billion in July, a sevenfold increase from the previous year. Now, people familiar with the matter say Anthropic has told investors that its current quarter will mark its second straight period of operating profitability.

A call for caution amid commercial expansion

Yet this aggressive commercial push coincides with a surprising plea from the company's leadership. Over the weekend, chief executive Dario Amodei published an essay calling on the AI industry to deliberately slow the development of advanced models. He proposed a three-step plan to temper the pace of capability improvements through third-party testing and shared safety standards, arguing this could happen without sacrificing Western commercial advantages.

The proposal has split opinion. Some investors, including Altimeter Capital's Brad Gerstner, expect the IPO to go ahead regardless, arguing that public listing brings much-needed transparency and scrutiny to the sector.

Others are more sceptical. Critics point out that strict safety rules would disproportionately burden smaller rivals who lack the capital to comply. Gil Luria, an equity analyst at D.A. Davidson, suggested the move looks like "a ladder pull" designed to protect the dominant market positions of Anthropic and OpenAI.

Safety anxieties and rival strategies

The push for a slowdown comes as anxieties over advanced AI reach a fever pitch. A recent Pew Research Center report found that more than half of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI. Within Anthropic itself, a researcher recently warned of a significant risk of human extinction shortly after a colleague resigned.

Anthropic's rapid path to the market stands in contrast to its chief rival, OpenAI. While OpenAI has also filed confidential IPO paperwork, chief executive Sam Altman told Fortune that going public now would be "ill-advised." The company’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, told employees that OpenAI does not plan to list until 2027.

For Anthropic, the test will be whether public market investors are willing to back a company that is simultaneously trying to break commercial records and call for its own brakes.