Anthropic was preparing to raise as much as $100 billion in an IPO planned for the week before Thanksgiving. Now three major investors who expect to participate are questioning the $1.5 trillion valuation. One believes it may need to come down to around $1 trillion. Another is already wondering whether the IPO should be delayed.
And this is happening before Anthropic even reaches the public market.
Thursday’s selloff wiped out $2.5 trillion from Nasdaq-listed companies in a single day. Nvidia lost roughly $374 billion in market value. AI infrastructure stocks were crushed. Now the private-market valuations are coming under pressure too.
Look at OpenAI. It initially targeted a $30 billion funding round at a $1.4 trillion valuation. It has reportedly raised $11 billion so far at $1.25 trillion, with its funding target subsequently reduced.
The irony is hard to miss. These companies have been valued on the assumption that AI will transform the economy and generate enormous profits. But the companies building the infrastructure are spending hundreds of billions, investors are questioning the returns, and even the biggest private AI companies are having trouble getting investors to commit at the prices they wanted.
The IPO was supposed to be the grand finale of the AI boom. It may turn into the first public test of what these companies are actually worth.
And we’re talking about one brutal trading session. Imagine what happens if this turns into a prolonged bear market.
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