Anthropic’s IPO turns AI’s revenue boom into a cost test

Anthropic’s IPO filing has turned a closely held AI contender into a public test of whether sales can outrun the cost of building AI. The maker of Claude reported $16.3 billion in first-half revenue, up from $1.16 billion a year earlier. It also reported an $80.7 billion net loss, mostly from a noncash revaluation of convertible notes, although its underlying operating loss was $693 million. The harder question is what comes next: Anthropic has long-term computing and infrastructure arrangements running into the hundreds of billions of dollars, while reported internal projections call for $190 billion to $200 billion in 2028 revenue. With much of its revenue tied to customer usage rather than long-term contracts, investors must decide whether that growth can cover those commitments and justify a huge valuation; the IPO price has not yet been set.