Anthropic faces valuation pushback on $1.5T IPO following market rout, WSJ reports

Anthropic's (NASDAQ:ANT) ambition to execute a record-shattering initial public offering at a $1.5 trillion valuation faces mounting institutional resistance following a sharp, sector-wide unwinding of artificial intelligence bets, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence developer had been targeting an offering the week before Thanksgiving to raise up to $100 billion, an effort that would surpass previous benchmark offerings, including SpaceX’s listing in June.

Major institutional participants who intend to back the debut increasingly indicate the target valuation must be revised downward, with one investor suggesting pricing may fall closer to $1 trillion, according to the Journal. Persuading burned fund managers to re-engage with high-multiple AI assets represents an uphill battle, sparking internal debate among backers over whether Anthropic should adjust its pricing range or delay the timeline altogether.

The company holds considerable flexibility should leadership choose to curb its capital target or postpone the debut, bolstered by a cash reserve of $146.6 billion as of September 30. Anthropic executives and advisers plan to convene in the coming days to review the IPO, having deliberately preserved structural optionality throughout the roadshow preparations.

Institutional appetite for the broader trade deteriorated sharply this week as the Nasdaq Composite shed $2.5 trillion in market value during a single session on Thursday. That rout followed midterm elections that empowered a cohort of AI-skeptical lawmakers and introduced local moratoriums, a political shift threatening to constrain domestic data center infrastructure buildouts.

Mounting scrutiny reflects a deepening retrenchment across private markets as well, where rival OpenAI secured just $11 billion of a targeted $30 billion funding round at an adjusted $1.25 trillion valuation, according to the Journal. Given Anthropic's pivotal strategic footprint alongside hyperscalers such as Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia, the ultimate reception of its listing will serve as a decisive barometer for market-wide liquidity and enterprise software valuations.