Anthropic Asked the Public for $100 Billion at $1.5 Trillion. Days Before the Roadshow, Reuters Says the Buyers Want a Discount, and the Compute Bill Just Doubled to $895 Billion
About This Episode
Reuters reported Thursday Nov 5 that potential investors doubt Anthropic can start its IPO roadshow the week of November 9 for a November listing, viewing the $1.5 trillion valuation as the high end and pushing for a bigger discount after the post-midterm AI selloff. The amended S-1 filed Nov 2 shows about $17 billion in Q3 revenue, a slide back to a $567 million operating loss, and $895.4 billion of compute and infrastructure commitments with $69.8 billion due within a year. The same Friday OpenAI wired $11 billion at $1.25 trillion after scaling back a round first pitched at $30 billion-plus at $1.4 trillion.
Our Take
Anthropic built a share the public can't vote with, but the public still sets the price of admission, and this week it asked for a discount on a company that must raise money to cover a compute bill that just doubled to $895 billion.
Continue Reading on Unscarcity
When AI Goes Public: Shareholders vs. Abundance
Direct match: the article's argument that a listing binds an abundance technology to a price that must stay up is being tested live as public buyers demand a discount on Anthropic days before its roadshow.
The Bootstrap Paradox: How Do You Fund the Death of Money Using Money?
Anthropic needs $100 billion of scarcity-era money from the public to pay an $895 billion bill for machines whose purpose is to make intelligence cheap, and the buyers only pay if it stays expensive; that circularity is the article's framework.