FACTBOX-Anthropic's potential mega IPO joins ranks of world's biggest listings

Anthropic launched the roadshow for its hotly anticipated US initial public offering on Tuesday, bringing the ​Claude maker a step closer to a landmark debut that is set to test ​investor appetite for the rapidly growing AI industry.

The listing would represent ‌what ​is expected to be one of the largest debuts ever attempted, potentially reshaping benchmark indexes, investor flows and the broader narrative driving US equities. A GLANCE AT WORLD'S BIGGEST IPOs

The biggest IPOs globally, ranked by deal size: ANTHROPIC

The filing confirmed Reuters reporting that Anthropic and some existing shareholders were ‌seeking to raise up to $64.4 billion in its U.S. IPO, offering 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each and targeting a valuation of about $1.4 trillion. Investors had previously discussed a valuation of as much as $2 trillion, but expectations have since fallen amid Anthropic’s hefty infrastructure commitments and volatility in AI-related stocks. Reuters previously reported that about $1.5 trillion was viewed as the high end of the range.

Anthropic has also lined ‌up $26 billion from some of the world’s biggest technology companies in a private placement alongside the IPO, highlighting the increasingly intertwined financial ties underpinning the AI boom. Alphabet's Google, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, ‌Broadcom, Micron Technology, Microsoft and TSMC have agreed to participate in the private placement at the IPO price.

Details of the blockbuster offering were briefly circulated to banks before being retracted late on Monday, according to emails seen by Reuters. The IPO has already been pushed back from earlier plans, with Reuters previously reporting that marketing was expected to begin in mid-October at the earliest.

Reuters has previously reported details of Anthropic’s financial performance, growth trajectory and IPO plans. Anthropic, founded in 2021 by a ⁠team of ​researchers who left OpenAI after disagreements over governance and ⁠AI safety,raised $65 billion at a post-money valuation of $965 billion in late May.

OPENAI OpenAI, which operates AI chatbot ChatGPT, revealed in June that it had confidentially filed for a US IPO.

The company will not go public in 2026, CEO Sam ⁠Altman had said in September, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence that render "unacceptable" even a 10% risk that AI could cause human extinction by decade's end. OpenAI President Greg Brockman last week said the company now generates the majority ​of its revenue from enterprise sales and he believes it will be ready to go public in 2027.

The company has been racing to ramp up fundraising, Reuters has reported, ⁠in order to capitalize on its recent growth after delaying its IPO plans. OpenAI has closed on new funding of $11 billion, the initial part of a round that values the company at $1.25 trillion, Reuters reported last week.

In May, OpenAI fended off an ⁠existential ​court challenge from Elon Musk, simplifying the path for it to proceed with a stock market listing. "We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it's a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends ⁠up being best," OpenAI had said in June.

SPACEX Elon Musk's rocket and satellite maker SpaceX made a historic Nasdaq debut in June, raising a record $75 billion and eclipsing Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing to ⁠become the world’s largest IPO.

The offering broke with Wall ⁠Street convention by setting the price before the investor roadshow, which is typically used to gauge demand and establish a price range. Its proceeds were more than double those of Saudi Aramco;s IPO. SpaceX shares ended their first trading day at $160.95, valuing the company at $2.1 trillion. The stock has ‌since lost momentum, closing at $142.07 on ‌November 9, but remained above its $135 IPO price.

(Compiled by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Arun Koyyur, Shilpi Majumdar and Maju Samuel)