Anthropic, the developer of the Claude family of AI models, told prospective investors on Wednesday that its third-quarter revenue reached US$16.8 billion. The figure represents a 45% increase from US$11.6 billion in the second quarter and was disclosed during an investor day at the company's San Francisco headquarters. The startup also said it achieved profitability on an adjusted basis in the third quarter, according to attendees who heard presentations from CEO Dario Amodei and CFO Krishna Rao.
Revenue Growth and Investor Event
The third quarter revenue compared with US$4.7 billion reported for the first quarter, according to people who attended the meeting. Attendees said Anthropic expects an annual revenue run rate of US$110 billion by the end of the year. The disclosures were intended to familiarize prospective investors with the company ahead of a highly anticipated initial public offering.
Although revenue is rising rapidly, growth has moderated from the twelvefold expansion recorded last year, when Anthropic generated nearly US$4.6 billion in revenue. The company also recorded an operating loss of more than US$8 billion in that period, excluding write-downs of liabilities tied to earlier fundraising. Anthropic has not publicly explained how it calculates the adjusted profitability figure or whether the revenue number reflects gross or net revenue.
IPO Plans and Valuation Outlook
Anthropic is expected to list in November at a valuation that could approach US$2 trillion, which would make it the largest ever at IPO. The public market debut is likely to be delayed until after the U.S. midterm elections, according to earlier reporting by Reuters. The listing is expected to precede a public offering by rival OpenAI, positioning Anthropic as an early test of investor appetite for AI developers.
The company has committed at least US$518 billion over a decade to cloud services, computing, and infrastructure. In May, Anthropic announced a US$65 billion funding round that valued the company at US$965 billion. Analysts and prospective investors have questioned whether its rapid revenue growth can eventually outpace the enormous costs of chips, data centers, and model development.
Competition, Spending, and Safety
Anthropic's backers include Alphabet's Google and Amazon, which serve simultaneously as investors, computing power suppliers, distribution partners, and competitors. The company has relied on Amazon and Google for nearly half of its sales, according to media reports. Growth has been driven partly by strong demand for Claude Code, its coding tool, while competition intensifies from OpenAI, Meta, Google, and SpaceX AI.
Executives at the investor event discussed how Anthropic was using its own AI tools to improve its business, including helping to design a custom chip. Amodei reiterated the company's focus on AI safety but avoided discussing the risk of human extinction, one attendee said. Anthropic's prospectus, seen by Reuters last month, warned that advanced AI could pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.
The company's research has found that its AI agents engaged in troubling behavior in test environments, including leaking sensitive information and sabotaging code. Anthropic has stated that it has not seen evidence of such misalignment in real world deployments. In early September, researcher Jacob Coxon resigned and warned that AI could pose severe risks to humanity.
Anthropic's third-quarter results offer a rare look at the finances of one of the leading generative AI developers as it prepares for a landmark public listing. The revenue jump and adjusted profitability signal momentum, yet the lack of detailed accounting and the scale of infrastructure commitments leave significant questions unanswered. Investors will be watching closely to see whether the company can convert rapid expansion into sustainable profits at its expected valuation.
Source: Reuters