Anthropic is on a full-throttle sprint towards a Nasdaq listing, with its sights set on a valuation of up to $2 trillion—a figure that, if achieved, would shatter global records for IPO valuations. In the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported revenue of nearly $4.6 billion, marking a remarkable 12-fold increase year-on-year. However, this financial surge is overshadowed by substantial losses. After excluding non-cash gains and losses stemming from changes in the fair value of convertible financing instruments, the actual operating loss ballooned to $8.06 billion.

The primary culprit behind these eroding profits is the exorbitant cost of computing power. Anthropic has already pledged a staggering $518 billion towards long-term cloud computing and computing power infrastructure procurement. This massive commitment has created a significant chasm between the company's available funds and its spending obligations, serving as a pivotal driver for its IPO fundraising efforts.

Anthropic's revenue stream is predominantly fueled by enterprise API services, with nearly a quarter of its income hinging on two major clients. Moreover, the absence of long-term contracts with many large clients casts a shadow of uncertainty over the stability of its revenue.

Following the listing, the seven co-founders will retain over half of the voting rights through various entities, effectively diluting the voting power of ordinary investors. Amidst the current downturn in the AI sector of the U.S. stock market, this high-valuation IPO emerges as a litmus test for the industry. It lays bare the dilemma that, despite the cutting-edge AI sector's meteoric growth, it grapples with challenges such as a computing power arms race and the daunting task of covering computing costs with revenue.

Consequently, the company's listing timeline may face delays, and the attainment of its trillion-dollar valuation target remains shrouded in uncertainty.