Anthropic, the developer of generative AI "Claude," officially initiated its public listing process on the 26th (local time) by submitting an initial public offering (IPO) application (registration statement) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Once discussed at around $2 trillion, Anthropic's corporate value is now expected to be around $1.5 trillion (approximately 1,990 trillion won) following recent investor presentations.

According to Reuters, Anthropic's revenue for the first half of 2026 recorded in the registration statement reached approximately $16.3 billion (approx. 21.6 trillion won). The company's performance has surged sharply as businesses actively adopt Claude for in-house operations and software development.

However, net losses during the same period reached $80.7 billion. This was largely influenced by valuation losses of about $72 billion due to a significant increase in the fair value of convertible bonds amid the company's soaring valuation. On the other hand, the company posted an operating profit of about $1 billion in the second quarter of 2026, turning a profit in its core business for the first time.

Upon completion of the listing process, Anthropic is scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq market under the ticker symbol "ANT," with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley participating as lead underwriters.

With its main competitor OpenAI postponing its IPO to next year, Anthropic is set to debut on the Nasdaq as the first leading AI company. Anthropic's scorecard is expected to serve as a benchmark for gauging the corporate value of followers.

Anthropic has carried out massive infrastructure investments. In the process, the company has signed record-breaking infrastructure spending contracts exceeding $600 billion with about 8 partners over the next decade. Specifically, this includes cloud computing contracts of at least $110 billion with Amazon, about $114.5 billion with Google, and $44.9 billion with Microsoft.

However, concerns are also rising that if demand falls short of expectations, the company could face a structure where it must pay for unused computing resources, potentially accelerating financial burdens if growth slows down.

This IPO filing has drawn even more attention as it comes amid a flood of warnings over the potential risks posed by AI systems.

In its prospectus, Anthropic warned that its latest AI models could exhibit self-preserving risk behaviors, such as resisting system shutdowns, hiding or manipulating information, and showing "blackmail-like behavior" in experiments.

Previous experiments also captured 16 major AI models making harmful choices, such as blackmail or leaking confidential information, to achieve their goals.

Political uncertainty is another risk factor. As Anthropic refused to lift restrictions on the use of AI in defense sectors, President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies last February to halt the use of Anthropic's technology, and the Department of Defense designated the company as a supply chain risk entity.

Last August, a federal court ruled that the government's action violated the company's constitutional rights, siding with Anthropic. While signals of relationship recovery have emerged from the Department of Commerce, separate lawsuits surrounding the Department of Defense designation are still ongoing.

Amid these risks, Anthropic plans to maintain its Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) status even after going public to balance profit-seeking with AI development for humanity.

In particular, in accordance with the policy to concentrate control and capital in the hands of a few to reduce AI risks, the company plans to maintain a "Class F stock" structure where seven co-founders exercise a majority voting power to control key corporate decisions such as the appointment of major directors. However, this could act as a factor limiting the influence of general external shareholders.

On the competitive front, Anthropic is engaged in fierce competition with big tech companies such as OpenAI, Elon Musk's xAI, Google, and Meta. According to Ramp data tracking corporate customer spending data, Anthropic demonstrated market dominance, accounting for 60.1% of enterprise customer AI token spending during the week ending October 11.

While Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dario Amodei has urged for a slowdown in pace to address AI risks, he is not letting up on technological competition, recently launching the latest "Opus 5.5" model—which boasts 20% lower pricing and higher performance than its predecessor—to counter recent market competition.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]