Anthropic is reassessing the timing and valuation of its planned initial public offering after a sharp post-election selloff erased $2.5 trillion from Nasdaq Composite constituents over two trading sessions, according to people familiar with the company's discussions. The review places a proposed $1.5 trillion valuation under pressure and could delay a roadshow previously expected to begin during the week of Nov. 9.
Three major prospective IPO buyers told people familiar with the talks that $1.5 trillion may be difficult to achieve under current market conditions. One buyer put a more realistic valuation closer to $1 trillion, while others have pressed for a wider discount before making large commitments.
Anthropic had been expected to price its shares before Thanksgiving, seeking to raise as much as $100 billion. Earlier this year, market expectations for the company had at times approached $2 trillion, reflecting the premium attached to companies building and supplying large-scale artificial intelligence systems.
The reassessment shows how quickly the public-market appetite for AI infrastructure has changed. Buyers who had been prepared to consider one of the largest listings in history are now weighing the company's continuing quarterly losses, its capital-intensive infrastructure commitments, and uncertainty over the pace of future data-center construction.
Tech selloff reshapes IPO conditions
The selloff followed midterm election results that moved AI-policy skeptics closer to decision-making roles, while several U.S. states approved moratoriums that could restrict or slow data-center development. Those policy developments hit companies whose growth depends heavily on expanding computing capacity, electricity access, and specialized hardware.
More than 50 S&P 1500 technology stocks fell by over 10% in a single day during the two sessions after the vote, according to the supplied market data. The scale of the declines extended beyond highly valued software companies and reached businesses tied directly to AI computing capacity.
CoreWeave, Nebius, and IREN led losses among data-center and computing-capacity companies. Each has lost roughly half of its market value over the past month, according to the information provided. Credit default swap spreads tied to CoreWeave and SpaceX also reached record highs, indicating that the cost of insuring against their debt default had climbed sharply.
Keith Lerner, chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services, said the technology sector had lagged the S&P 500 by 10.7% over the past month, its steepest one-month underperformance since May 2002. Vanda Research reported that retail selling had reached its strongest pace since the COVID-19 period.
Those figures create an uncomfortable setting for an IPO that would require buyers to assign extraordinary value to a company operating in the same AI ecosystem that has driven recent public-market losses. A listing at $1.5 trillion would need to persuade buyers that Anthropic can sustain rapid revenue growth while financing the computing infrastructure needed to train and run its models.
Revenue disclosure adds pressure
Prospective buyers are also awaiting October revenue figures that were left blank in Anthropic's latest amended S-1 filing. The missing monthly data has complicated decisions over large allocations during a period of heightened volatility, according to people familiar with the IPO discussions.
Revenue growth is particularly relevant for companies with large AI infrastructure obligations. Training advanced models requires substantial spending on chips, servers, data centers, power, and cloud capacity, while the commercial payoff depends on enterprises continuing to adopt AI products at a pace fast enough to cover those commitments.
Microsoft added tighter oversight to parts of data-center projects linked to emerging cloud providers including Nebius, IREN, and Nscale during the same period, according to the supplied material. The review came as concern grew that AI infrastructure spending could slow, especially if customers reduce commitments or construction faces policy constraints.
Anthropic reported $146.6 billion in cash as of Sept. 30, according to its filing. That balance would provide substantial flexibility, but a $100 billion fundraising target would make the IPO unusually exposed to shifts in market confidence. Reducing the amount raised could lower the immediate burden on buyers, while a delay could give the company time to provide additional financial results and wait for technology shares to stabilize.
Executives and advisers are expected to meet in the coming days to consider a lower valuation, a smaller offering, or a postponed listing, according to people familiar with internal planning.
AI funding faces a tougher benchmark
The strain is also visible in private fundraising. OpenAI's latest financing round has raised about $11 billion so far, less than half of its reported $30 billion target, at a reported $1.25 trillion valuation. The slower deal progress suggests that private buyers are also becoming more selective about AI companies seeking exceptionally large sums.
The change does not erase demand for AI products or computing capacity. It does alter the terms under which the market is willing to fund them. Companies that once benefited from a scarcity premium now face closer scrutiny of revenue, operating losses, infrastructure contracts, and the cost of maintaining growth.
For Anthropic, the immediate decision is likely to center on whether the public market can support a record-scale offering without a deeper discount. A lower valuation near $1 trillion would still rank among the largest equity market debuts ever, but it would acknowledge that the AI trade no longer commands the same automatic premium it did before the election-driven selloff.
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