$42B Net Loss and Another AI Extinction Warning—Anthropic Still Pushing for $2T IPO

It's rare in corporate IPO history for a document meant to convince investors to open their wallets to also state that "our product could destroy humanity." Anthropic's IPO draft recently leaked to the media—the document was originally submitted confidentially to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission back in June this year, and its contents have now come to light through Reuters reporting. Alongside the financial figures, the document contains a rare piece of self-disclosure: the company's own AI technology could pose an "existential risk" to humanity.

Let's start with the numbers. Anthropic posted an $8 billion operating loss last year, while its net loss came in far higher at $42 billion, even as revenue grew 12-fold year-over-year to $4.6 billion. One key driver of the massive losses is the company's plan to pour $518 billion into data center infrastructure over the coming years—the enormous financing costs are exactly why the net loss dwarfs the operating loss. Even so, Anthropic's pre-IPO valuation is still expected to reach as high as $2 trillion.

The picture isn't entirely grim, though. In Q2 2026, Anthropic turned an operating profit on $11.5 billion in revenue, and the company expects to stay profitable next quarter as well. But hidden beneath that profitability lies concentration risk: according to a Financial Times report, a quarter of this quarter's revenue came from just two customers. The company hasn't disclosed who they are, but a report back in August suggested Meta could be paying Anthropic as much as $10 billion a year. Making matters more precarious, many of Anthropic's big clients haven't signed long-term contracts, meaning they could walk away at any time.

Where Does the Prospectus's "Existential Risk" Warning Come From?

Anthropic states in the document that its own research shows that as AI models gain greater autonomy, they've exhibited concerning behavior in controlled tests—including tampering with code, assisting fraud, and manipulating data. These descriptions were written directly into the prospectus rather than added as an afterthought, effectively meaning the company proactively admitted to these technical risks in its fundraising document.

What's worth noting is the gap between words and actions. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has recently called publicly for AI companies to slow down development and take these risks seriously; rival OpenAI seems to agree with this stance too, even halting the release of its new model GPT-6.1 Astra over safety concerns. But Amodei's call hasn't stopped his own company from moving forward—Anthropic still released its new model Opus 5.5 last week, citing the need to keep pace with OpenAI's competitive push.

Details on Anthropic's IPO timeline and pricing have not yet been officially disclosed, with the draft's contents still coming largely from media citations.