Anthropic presses ahead with November IPO as AI market jitters sideline rivals
Anthropic is pushing forward with its IPO in mid-November, aiming for a potential US$1.5 trillion valuation, even as other AI infrastructure and data centre firms delay or withdraw their listings amid rising interest rates and market volatility.
Anthropic, the AI lab, is pressing ahead with its initial public offering as planned in the middle of next month, after making its prospectus public as early as late October, people familiar with the matter said. The company is expected to begin marketing its shares to prospective investors during the week of 9 Nov 2026, one of the people said, cautioning that the plan and dates are subject to change.
Anthropic's planned IPO will test whether its position at the centre of the booming AI business — which the company is believed to deem worthy of a potential US$1.5 trillion valuation — can overcome a market environment that might typically prompt bankers and deal lawyers to counsel delay. Many large investors remain bullish on Anthropic's prospects despite the fall turbulence, viewing the firm as one of the few opportunities to gain exposure to a technology sector that long-term investors cannot afford to ignore. Other issuers are reluctant to compete with Anthropic for institutional investors' attention and capital, two of the people said.
Other companies in the AI infrastructure and data centre sectors have delayed their listings, facing a rise in interest rates that has helped fuel a punishing selloff in shares and bonds of AI operators such as CoreWeave, and broader questions about the sustainability of AI spending. Switch, a data centre operator, and Nscale, an AI infrastructure provider, have pushed their IPO plans back to later this year, people familiar with the matter said, while stressing that plans remain fluid and subject to change. Nscale's delay was partly driven by the need to address comments from SEC staff, one other person said. SoftBank-backed SB Energy has also postponed its listing, Reuters previously reported.
South Korean AI chip startup Elice was among the latest to shelve its listing plans overnight. Blackstone-backed AirTrunk REIT and Nvidia-backed Firmus have also pulled or paused their offerings, Reuters has reported. Oura's recent IPO added to the caution among prospective issuers; the offering attracted little participation from long-only investors, a person familiar with the matter said, raising concerns about the depth of demand from institutional investors that typically provide a stable base of shareholders for newly listed companies.
The retreat from AI infrastructure listings reflects growing scrutiny of the enormous capital required to build data centres and whether future demand will justify the investment. Recent developments involving CoreWeave have added to concerns about a potential slowdown in AI spending, although some market participants do not expect such a downturn to materialise. Nscale publicly filed its IPO registration statement in September, while Switch submitted its filing confidentially, Reuters reported previously. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Switch, Nscale and SB Energy also did not respond to requests for comment.
