Nvidia has promised to invest $10 billion in Anthropic. Will Huang's departure derail the record-breaking IPO?

A week before Anthropic’s long-awaited stock offering, the AI giant’s plans for a record-breaking IPO have once again come under close scrutiny from investors, according to Bloomberg. The unexpected dismissal of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has added uncertainty surrounding the listing, which some analysts are calling the most important event for the markets through the end of the year.

According to Anthropic’s documents, Nvidia has agreed to purchase approximately $10 billion worth of shares in the AI company as part of a $26 billion private placement that will take place concurrently with the IPO. Anthropic considers the chipmaker its strategic partner: the company has committed to tens of billions of dollars in agreements that provide access to Nvidia’s most advanced processors. Investors are now wondering whether Huang’s departure will complicate Anthropic’s plans to raise up to $90.4 billion during its IPO and accompanying private placement next week.

“A change in leadership could prompt Nvidia’s board of directors to reconsider the size of its investment in Anthropic, the timing of the investment, or the strategic rationale behind the deal,” wrote Mandip Singh, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, on Wednesday. “Any delay or reduction in investment could weaken the important signal of support for Anthropic’s valuation of approximately $1.4 trillion, although commitments from Google and other strategic investors could mitigate the impact.”

Anthropic primarily uses processors from Nvidia, AMD, Google, and Amazon. Amazon and Google are already among the company’s investors; in addition, AMD and Google have agreed to participate in a private placement and purchase shares worth approximately $2.5 billion and $10 billion, respectively, according to Bloomberg.

“So far, it looks like the deal will go through,” wrote Matt Mealy, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., in a note to clients. In his view, the scandal surrounding Nvidia and the drop in its stock price have not yet had a significant impact on Anthropic. The situation could still change, but the IPO is being very well received by investors, Mealy noted. “If Anthropic’s stock trades well in the first days and weeks after the IPO, investors may well put the Nvidia scandal behind them,” the strategist believes.

Wall Street hopes that the AI lab's initial public offering will spark a new phase of the stock market rally, according to Bloomberg.

"Anthropic's IPO is the Jenga piece that the entire AI sector is built on," said Michael Monaghan, portfolio manager at Founder ETFs. "If it goes well, investors will flock to the entire sector."

Anthropic’s IPO could be a defining moment for the AI stock market, according to HSBC strategist Max Kettner. But if the IPO results turn out to be weak, “it will be the main catalyst for a broad-based correction across the entire AI market,” warned Jack Selby, managing partner at Copper Sky.

Trading in Anthropic shares is expected to begin on November 19 on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ANT. Investor demand was about six times greater than the supply, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

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