The Claude chatbot outfit, which is haggling over a private funding round that could price it at more than $300bn, picked the west coast law shop in recent days, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The start-up led by chief executive Dario Amodei has chewed the fat with central investment banks about a possible IPO, several people with knowledge of the chats said. These conversations were informal and early, which hints that the company is nowhere close to locking down its underwriting squad.
The manoeuvre marks a sharp rise in Anthropic’s preparations for a public fling that will test whether the cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street feel brave enough to back enormous loss-making research labs driving the AI frenzy. In fact, some of them are saying that if Anthropic’s IPO makes too much money, it could be the point at which, in hindsight, the AI bubble bursts.
Wilson Sonsini has been advising Anthropic since 2022 on giant Amazon deals and has handled flashy tech listings for Google, LinkedIn and Lyft. Investors are itching for Anthropic to jump first, claiming an early listing would give it a head start over OpenAI.
One person with knowledge of Anthropic’s plans touted 2026 as a plausible listing date. Another person at the company poured cold water on that enthusiasm, saying an IPO was unlikely.
An Anthropic spokesperson said: “It’s fairly standard practice for companies operating at our scale and revenue level to operate as if they are publicly traded companies effectively. We haven’t made any decisions about when or even whether to go public, and don’t have any news to share at this time.”
People familiar with OpenAI’s thinking said it too is doing the early tidying needed for a public listing, although they stressed that it remains far too early to pick a date.
Both groups face the headache of predicting finances when model training burns cash faster than a festival bonfire. Yet they aim to go public at valuations that make US tech veterans stare. OpenAI carried a $500bn valuation in October, while Anthropic secured a $15bn Microsoft and Nvidia commitment last month, part of a round expected to price it between $300bn and $350bn.
Someone familiar with Anthropic’s progress said the company has been grinding through an internal checklist needed for a float. The San Francisco crew hired Airbnb veteran and former IPO wrangler Krishna Rao as chief financial officer last year.
