Anthropic's IPO Roadshow Is in Doubt, Reuters Says — Investors Call the $1.5 Trillion Valuation the High End and Push for a Discount
The biggest AI offering of the year may not keep its calendar: potential investors are questioning whether Anthropic can start its roadshow next week for a November listing, Reuters reports, after the sharpest technology selloff in a year — and they want a lower price than the $1.5 trillion valuation under discussion.
Potential investors in Anthropic's highly anticipated initial public offering are raising doubts about whether the artificial intelligence startup can proceed with its planned roadshow next week in time for a November listing, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the investor discussions. The roadshow was initially expected to kick off in the week of November 9, with pricing expected the following week. Investors are pushing for a more attractive valuation to commit to the offering, with some viewing the recently discussed $1.5 trillion valuation as being at the high end of expectations. Anthropic declined to comment.
The timing is the problem as much as the price. The discussions reflect, in part, the impact of the sharpest technology selloff in a year — Wall Street lost $3.2 trillion in a single session on Thursday as investors weighed fears that a Democratic-controlled Congress could slow the buildout of AI data centers — along with geopolitical uncertainty clouding the outlook for new offerings. Reuters' Friday morning briefing put the two stories side by side: doubts are growing over whether Anthropic will push ahead with its blockbuster IPO this month as sentiment toward AI deteriorates.
The company's own position sharpens the investors' hand. Anthropic may need to offer a bigger discount to secure investor commitments, the people said, particularly as investors recognize the company's need to raise capital, given a record of quarterly losses and the large commitments it has made to partners in the AI buildout. In plain terms: a seller who needs the money, selling into a falling market, does not set the price — the buyers do, and the buyers are saying $1.5 trillion is where the conversation starts, not where it ends.
For New York, this is a local market story whatever the company decides. An offering of this size is roadshowed, priced and largely placed from this city's financial district, and its fate is now the cleanest single test of whether the AI trade's worst week has closed the IPO window or merely repriced it. A delayed roadshow would say the window shut; a priced deal at a discount would say it stayed open at a lower number. This desk follows the roadshow calendar into next week and files the decision when the company or its bankers make it.
