Ahead of its IPO, Anthropic Will Cite Public Skepticism Toward AI as Its Main Risk — CNBC

Claude Anthropic, the chatbot developer, is expected to cite public skepticism toward artificial intelligence and the construction of data centers as a key risk factor for its business in its IPO prospectus. Sources familiar with the situation told CNBC this. The company, which is valued at nearly $1 trillion on the private market, is preparing to go public at a time when more and more Americans are concerned about the impact of AI on the labor market and are openly opposing the construction of new data centers, the network notes.

Ahead of its IPO, Anthropic is already holding preliminary meetings with bankers and investors in San Francisco, according to sources who spoke with CNBC. At these meetings, the company’s CFO, Krishna Rao, is being asked about competition, margin pressure from open-source models, and the implications of a potential slowdown in data center construction. However, sources at the network say that Anthropic is expected to cite public skepticism toward AI as a key risk factor for its business in its IPO prospectus.

Officials at the AI Lab declined to comment on the matter.

The largest technology companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on capital expenditures to develop data centers and purchase the graphics processing units needed to power them. But public opinion is not on their side, according to CNBC. A May Gallup poll found that seven out of ten Americans opposed the construction of AI data centers in their regions, with nearly half of those surveyed stating they were “strongly opposed.” The issue has also gained prominence in politics: with less than three months to go before the U.S. midterm elections, politicians from both parties are increasingly criticizing the development of data centers, reflecting voters’ dissatisfaction.

Companies are required to disclose risk factors in their prospectuses to inform investors and for legal protection. For example, Elon Musk’s SpaceX cited “adverse global macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions” in the section on risk factors.

Anthropic filed a confidential IPO application in June. The AI lab’s offering could be one of the largest in history. Anthropic is using SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO as a benchmark; during that offering, Elon Musk’s aerospace and AI company raised $85.7 billion, including underwriters’ options, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Investors expect Anthropic to surpass that result and predict that the company could go public with a valuation of about $2 trillion, the Financial Times noted last week. At that time, Anthropic’s valuation on the over-the-counter market soared to $1.5 trillion, up 25% over the course of a month. According to Bloomberg, Anthropic could file a public IPO registration statement by the end of August, and the IPO itself could take place in October, the FT reported.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor