The SEC Should Block Anthropic’s IPO to Protect the Public - Tech Policy Press
By Google News AI ·
Matt Scherer is co-author of the recent report Brace for Impact: Protecting people and the economy when the AI bubble bursts.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei looks on as United States President Donald Trump holds a press briefing with AI executives following a meeting on artificial intelligence, outside the West Wing of the White House on September 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Things are seldom what they seem when it comes to the finances of the AI industry. The AI ecosystemâs circular business dealings, extensive use of financial engineering, and otherwise murky finances make it hard for investors, regulators, or workers saving for retirement to get an accurate financial picture of AI companies.
That is particularly true of Anthropic, which filed the registration statement for its initial public offering (IPO) last week ahead of a planned November stock market debut.
The companyâs topline financial figures look quite impressive for a startup, with revenues that appear to have grown quickly over the course of 2026 and a fairly healthy balance sheet â on the surface, that is.
Dig a little deeper, however, and a far bleaker picture emerges. Footnotes to the companyâs most recent financial disclosures revealed nearly $900 billion in spending commitments, most of them stretching into the 2030s. The companyâs financial results for 2026 have not been subjected to formal auditing, which makes them less-than-reliable, but the third-quarter results suggest that the companyâs revenue growth slowed to a crawl over the summer.
Anthropic will have to reverse that trend and sustain extraordinary revenue growth to meet its vast obligations. But the financial pressures that are squeezing Anthropic â and, indeed, the AI industry as a…
Originally published by Google News AI