According to reports from Bloomberg News, Anthropic PBC is actively scheduling investor meetings ahead of a potential mega-IPO, with banks leading the offering arranging meetings between investors and the Claude chatbot maker in the coming weeks. The company is considering an initial public offering as soon as in October, which would position it ahead of rival OpenAI, which is now targeting a 2027 public debut after earlier plans for a fall 2026 listing. Both companies have filed confidentially for their respective listings, with Anthropic being valued at $965 billion after a funding round in May, making it one of the world's largest private companies and eclipsing OpenAI's valuation for the first time. The company recently secured a $65 billion Series H funding round and is working with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. on its IPO, with lead underwriters already beginning to schedule investor meetings for the coming weeks.
Market pricing indicates strong confidence in Anthropic's IPO timeline, with 68.5% probability for the company to IPO by December 31, 2026, according to recent market analysis. This represents a significant increase in confidence following the company's confidential S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, 2026. The planned investor meetings align with Anthropic's strategic posturing as it continues to lead in AI market share and valuation metrics. However, there remains a lower probability of 6.5% for Anthropic to meet its IPO timeline before September 30, 2026, indicating that the October window remains the primary focus for the company's public debut.
Anthropic's listing confidence stems from robust revenue growth driven by the stellar commercial performance of its Claude large model and coding assistant tools. The company recently announced the launch of Claude for Teachers, offering its advanced AI capabilities free of charge to K-12 educators in the U.S. This initiative allows all U.S. K-12 educators to access the premium version of Claude, which includes evidence-based curricula and a comprehensive library of instructional resources aligned with the academic standards of all 50 U.S. states. The move directly challenges the core business of education technology company Stride, sparking market concerns about the latter's competitive standing in the ed-tech sector.
As reported by Bloomberg News, an IPO this fall would also see Anthropic debut before DeepSeek, the Chinese AI firm that has been gaining market share in the technology sector. DeepSeek is preparing for an IPO and could file as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter. However, its listing timeline is expected to be later than Anthropic's potential October debut. The listing plans follow a period of strong revenue growth for Anthropic fueled by traction for its AI models, including tools that help streamline coding processes. However, the company faces uncertainty over its relationship with the Trump administration, which briefly imposed foreign access restrictions on two of Anthropic's top models. Anthropic also previously sued the Defense Department for declaring it posed a risk to the US supply chain.
The AI race has significantly boosted the IPO market, with listings this year raising $227.5 billion, excluding blank-check firms and other financial vehicles, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This represents the most raised since 2021, with AI at the heart of major IPOs including SpaceX's historic June listing and SK Hynix Inc.'s recent US listing, which was the third largest on record. If the October listing goes smoothly, Anthropic will beat its two key rivals to the public market, with U.S. peer OpenAI having postponed its IPO plans from the fall of 2026 to 2027. However, final listing schedules remain subject to change as preparations for all parties are still ongoing, with additional scrutiny needed on any amendments to the S-1 filing, including pricing or share count details that could influence the likelihood of meeting the September 30, 2026 timeline.
