Anthropic executives told a roomful of investors on Wednesday that the company’s revenue for the third quarter jumped about 45 percent from the prior quarter to $16.8 billion, as it pursues what may become the largest-ever initial public offering, two people with knowledge of the company’s presentation said.
The artificial intelligence giant, which makes the Claude chatbot, could aim to raise more than $100 billion in a public listing, its bankers have said. That could value Anthropic at $2 trillion, pushing it past Elon Musk’s SpaceX — which went public in June at a $1.77 trillion valuation — as the world’s biggest offering. The San Francisco company is expected to begin trading as early as next month.
In the meeting with potential investors at its headquarters, Anthropic sought to generate enthusiasm for the upcoming deal. Revenue was up from $11.6 billion in the second quarter. The company also said it was profitable after making certain adjustments, which is not a bottom-line number. And it said its gross margin, or revenue minus direct costs associated with generating that revenue, was 85 percent after making certain adjustments.
The Financial Times earlier reported details of Anthropic’s presentation.
Anthropic, which filed to go public in June, has not yet made its prospectus — which lays out its financial performance — public. Wednesday was the first official opportunity for potential I.P.O. investors to get a glimpse into the numbers, which may give insight into the health of the broader A.I. industry and will help determine the valuation Anthropic will get in its listing.
The I.P.O. is expected to be a milestone for Silicon Valley and Wall Street, even as Anthropic’s road to the public market has become increasingly difficult. Rising interest rates have dampened the market for initial public offerings, while the company is grappling with questions about the sustainability of the A.I. industry’s increasingly debt-funded build-out.
A successful offering from Anthropic could reopen the door for other listings and provide a vote of confidence for the industry. A poorly received offering, on the other hand, could close the door on other listings and affect the broader stock market. Anthropic’s rival OpenAI has also filed to go public, probably next year.
Some of Anthropic’s bankers and backers argue that the company’s size, quick growth and potential opportunities distinguish it from others. Many of its investors, like Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price, are among the biggest investors in public offerings, so the company may have a built-in support base, bankers said.
Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s chief executive, is embroiled in a major debate over A.I. safety. Last month, Dr. Amodei posted an essay calling for a slowdown in the development of the most advanced A.I. technologies in order for proper guardrails to be installed.
His essay was followed by similar pushes from other industry leaders. President Trump later summoned executives to the White House and presented a voluntary agreement that they had signed to adopt safety policies that include risk reviews, auditing and evaluations of systems by third parties.
Some Anthropic investors have said they are keen to better understand how the company is defining “pacing” the development of these cutting-edge technologies. They are also focused on the potential impact of cheaper open-weight A.I. models from China, which could steal some of Anthropic’s business.