According to Woofun AI, Anthropic's upcoming IPO process is pushing the strained Wall Street to a tipping point of stress testing. Investors point out that the core logic of the reason why the AI giant can't wait to seek open market access is a cruel arithmetic problem: its size has expanded to the limit that the private equity financing system cannot carry. As the AI arms race enters the deep-water zone, the 100 billion dollar spending promises accumulated by leading companies are pushing the supply capacity of the financial system to the edge. The scale of this infrastructure frenzy is comparable to that of the US railway network or interstate highway construction back then. Given the soaring cost of private equity borrowing, leveraging the huge liquidity of the open market is the best solution to feed the next phase of the AI competition.
Judging from a financial perspective, the tension between huge computing power promises and revenue explosions formed the fundamental driving force behind the listing. The prospectus published on October 26 revealed that Anthropic's promise of computing power over the next few years could reach $750 billion, of which it is already burdened with more than $600 billion in future infrastructure costs, and potential transactions could add an additional $150 billion.
According to data compiled by Woofun AI, Anthropic's revenue surged to $16.3 billion in the first half of 2026, compared to $1.1 billion in the same period last year; however, the net loss disclosed for the same period reached US$80.7 billion, most of which was due to financing-related accounting expenses.
This book loss overshadows the essence of the business, but huge capital expenditure requirements forced the company to find a deeper pool of capital to support its exponential growth in infrastructure investment.
The comparison of financing difficulties further highlights the need for an open market. Although OpenAI's latest round of financing set a historical record and took months to finalize more than 120 billion US dollars, it is difficult to replicate in the current market environment. Anthropic shares are in high demand, and the founder of investment bank Ignatious, Storm Duncan (Storm Duncan) even proposed a $4.8 million home plus an adjoining plot of land in exchange for a total of about $8 million in shares, but the deal has yet to be completed; private equity funding is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. As part of a record $60 billion chip financing package (internally codenamed Project North Star, including approximately $42 billion in priority debt and approximately $18 billion in subordinated bonds guaranteed by Broadcom), Anthropic placed $9 billion of subordinated bonds to Blackstone (BX.US) with a yield of more than 10%, up from 8.5% of the $4.4 billion funding round four months ago. The remaining $9 billion in subordinated bonds are expected to be distributed over the next few months, indicating private placement Investors are demanding higher compensation for AI risks.
Meanwhile, market concerns about AI infrastructure debt have intensified: Australian data center company Firmus, invested by Nvidia (NVDA.US), abandoned listing due to market fluctuations; South Korean AI cloud service provider Elice's stock price fell 32% on the first day of listing; and the yield on some CoreWeave (CRWV.US) bonds was close to 15%. These cases reflect that the private equity market is already overburdened and there is an urgent need for open markets to share risks.
Although the listing schedule has been adjusted, the direction is clear. The market expected Anthropic to launch in October, then postponed to the week of November 16. According to the Wall Street Journal, the decision to postpone was made before the AI security controversy sparked by the researchers' departure. Consultants believed that the delay would allow the company to first disclose third-quarter results; the security dispute then amplified the market's scrutiny of the company.
Despite the security controversy, Anthropic investors described its latest financial performance as “astonishing,” refuting concerns about a slowdown in revenue growth. In terms of the size and maturity of the company, going public was a no-brainer. The IPO came after Wall Street was generally anxious about AI deals, particularly when computing power leasing and data center construction companies faced market doubts. Anthropic may have had to go public under imperfect conditions, but investors believe this is the best way to put the AI craze to the market for the ultimate test. With a valuation approaching $2 trillion and an annual performance of $163 billion, Anthropic's listing is not only about its own destiny, but will also re-calibrate the entire industry's perception of the AI bubble and value.