Despite turbulent market conditions - including one of the steepest sell-offs the Nasdaq has seen in recent memory - and the distraction of a high-profile scandal involving a prominent AI executive and an alleged Chinese intelligence operative, Anthropic appears undeterred in its ambitions to go public. The artificial intelligence company is pressing forward with its initial public offering plans, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

According to that report, Anthropic is expected to set its valuation range within days, with trading potentially beginning as early as Thursday or Friday of the following week. The timeline signals that the company's leadership is confident enough in current conditions to push through with the listing despite broader uncertainty in technology markets.

Valuation Expectations Pulled Back

The IPO will be closely watched by investors and industry analysts alike as a barometer for how the market currently values artificial intelligence companies. How Anthropic is priced at listing will offer one of the clearest signals yet of whether investor appetite for AI-focused businesses remains as strong as it appeared even a few months ago.

That appetite, however, appears to be cooling somewhat. A number of institutional investors are reportedly pushing for a valuation below the $1.5 trillion figure that was being discussed as recently as the prior week. That figure was already a notable step down from the $2 trillion valuation that had been floated earlier in the year, suggesting that expectations have been recalibrated as market volatility has increased and scrutiny of AI company fundamentals has intensified.

OpenAI Sets a Recent Benchmark

For context, OpenAI - widely regarded as Anthropic's closest and most formidable competitor - was reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion last week following a fresh capital raise of $11 billion. That fundraising round came in significantly below the $20 billion the company had originally sought, a shortfall that itself reflects the more cautious stance many investors are now taking toward even the most prominent names in the AI sector.

Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers including Dario Amodei and his sister Daniela Amodei, has positioned itself as a safety-focused alternative in the large language model space. The company is best known for its Claude family of AI assistants and has attracted significant investment from major technology players. Its move toward a public listing would represent one of the most significant AI-related market debuts in recent years, and its reception on the public markets is expected to carry considerable weight for the broader sector.