Anthropic’s IPO files expose the cost of the AI race—and who holds the power
Confidential filings reviewed by Reuters describe soaring sales, heavy losses and a business deeply dependent on the technology giants it competes with.
Anthropic’s preparations for a stock market listing are exposing a central tension in the artificial intelligence boom: sales can grow spectacularly while the cost of keeping pace rises faster than a conventional software business can comfortably absorb.
Reuters reported on September 29 that confidential IPO documents showed how heavily the Claude developer depends on large technology partners. Separate reporting on the prospectus described nearly $4.6 billion in 2025 revenue, roughly twelve times the previous year’s level, alongside a net loss of about $42 billion. Those figures come from documents reviewed by Reuters, not a public filing independently examined by NewsForce.
The loss requires care. Reuters said the operating loss exceeded $8 billion when liability write-downs, largely associated with fundraising, were excluded. Treating the entire net loss as cash spent running models would therefore misrepresent the accounts. The operating figure nevertheless points to a business spending heavily to develop and deliver its technology.
Infrastructure is the larger commitment. Reuters reported cloud and computing obligations of $518 billion over coming years. Such commitments are forward obligations, not expenses all incurred in 2025. They show why the durability of future demand matters alongside the headline growth rate.
Distribution creates another dependency. Almost 47% of 2025 sales passed through Amazon and Google, according to Reuters’ examination of the prospectus. Both companies are investors and computing suppliers, as well as AI competitors. Anthropic presents their reach as an advantage: customers can buy its models through platforms they already use.
That access has a price. Reuters calculated approximately $351 million in distribution fees against $2.16 billion of cloud-marketplace sales. The company accounted for those fees as operating expenses. Consumption-based revenue was much larger than subscription revenue, meaning the business also depends heavily on how much customers actually use its systems.
Prospective investors would not receive control proportionate to the scale of their financial exposure. A separate Reuters report described a founder-controlled entity holding a special share with 50.1% of voting power over important decisions. Ordinary Class A shares would carry one vote each but limited influence against that structure.
Anthropic would remain a Delaware public benefit corporation, and its long-term benefit trust would appoint four other directors. Those arrangements are designed to preserve a mission beyond maximizing shareholder returns. The prospectus also acknowledges that such priorities can conflict with investors’ financial interests.
Together, the reported terms describe three separate questions for a listing: whether customer demand supports the computing commitments, how much value distribution partners retain, and what remedies outside shareholders have if management’s priorities diverge from theirs. The confidential documents describe preparations and proposed governance; they do not establish that a public offering has been completed.